Food Allergy News: It's Time to Draft Your Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan

At this time of year, I'm often asked about the best ways to keep kids with food allergies safe and healthy at school. Have I got a document for you: the Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan. This document, which explains symptoms and specific actions to take in a food allergy emergency, is crucial to supply at school. You should also have one of these at home, displayed somewhere were you and any other caregivers can easily find it. It's a wonderful document to have no matter where you are -- but it's a school must-have.

You can download a free copy of this important form from The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network website. This is the form I use year after year; my allergist loves it and said it's the best one out there.

The Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan can be provided as part of your child's IHP (Individual Health Plan, that is, a health plan you create with school health officials and administrators and sign off on) or 504 Plan (legal document created to protect severely allergic students.)

The Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan is completed by your doctor and distributed to key school staff, along with any supporting documents such as medication forms or other required doctor's notes.

If your child ever suffers from a reaction at school, this form is a great go-to in terms of helping teachers or staff know what steps to take. Our teachers and school staff have always really appreciated having us present them with this form because it spells out everything they need to know in an allergic emergency.

From personal experience, I have a few more tips about this form:

- Present the FAEAP on brightly colored or neon paper so that it's easy to spot.

- Be sure to provide a photo of your child in the space provided. (Save a school photo from the previous year and use it on the form.)

- Have  a new FAEAP completed each year and dated for the current school year. Most schools require this to be renewed each year.

- Make note of any medication changes--for example, depending on weight gain and growth, your child may now require a regular dose of epinephrine, not the "jr." version. Your form should reflect this.

- Our daughter's teachers have kept a copy of the Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan in the classroom with them where they can see it. One teacher had it taped to her desk, but any easy access area is good. You want substitutes to have access, too.

Back to school with a food allergy can be stressful, but the Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan has always provided me with greater peace of mind. Download yours now!

Food Allergies and School: Resources and Links for a New School Year

My daughter, age 5, on her first day of kindergarten. She is now 12! Time flies....

For many of us, a new school year begins in August. Lots of you may be sending your child to a new school this year, or to school for the first time. Or maybe you are sending your child to a full day of school that includes a lunch period, when they haven't had that before.

No doubt about it. When dealing with food allergies, school can be stressful. We begin a new school this year, too, and of course there are always unknowns. However, I've learned a few things along the way that have helped our family. The links below provide my own blog posts and some great articles from others on how to deal with school and food allergies.

Before I give you the list of links, I think it's important to realize that your worry never completely goes away, but good preparation is key to success.

Just as you help your school to understand what is necessary to protect your child's health and you have a formal written plan (like an Individual Health Plan (IHP) or a 504), be sure you are working with your child so that they understand how to become their own best advocates.

Whether it is learning to refuse foods that haven't received your approval or simply making sure they wash or wipe their hands before eating, even little kids can learn about their allergies and help manage them  (though little ones need a lot of help from the adults, of course). My daughter's kindergarten teacher used to tell me that my daughter always questioned any foods -- even those that might have been OK previously. Your kids can learn to do this, too, and I encourage you to practice  the "when in doubt, do without" rule.

I will have more about school in future posts. For now, these links should be timely and helpful as you enjoy the rest of your summer and prepare for school.

 Nut-Free Mom's back to school posts:

Back to school with food allergies (includes several article links and a Real Simple magazine article link with my back-to-school advice)

http://nut-freemom.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-school-with-food-allergies.html

 

Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan with a link to a PDF

http://nut-freemom.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-food-allergy-action-plan-time.html

Information on 504 Plans (a 504 Plan is a legal document outlining care for your child while at school):

504 Plan for Food Allergies by Dr. Robert Wood, author of "Food Allergies for Dummies"

http://drrobertwood.com/504-plan-for-food-allergies.shtml

The Food Allergy Initiative's page on 504 Plans

http://www.faiusa.org/page.aspx?pid=526