Parents get wish on nut-death probe – Part 2
http://www.theage.com.au/…131.html?page=2
I didn’t realise that story had 2 pages.
Mr Bracks (Premier of NSW) said that since October a new, optional short course in the administration of EpiPens had been included in staff’s first aid training.
The Baptists are unhappy with the Premier’s response, claiming the measures established for anaphylaxis management are token and inadequate. “In spite of the rhetoric there is still a long way to go to make kinders and schools safer for anaphylactic children,” Mr Baptist said. “I would have thought that if you had a child with the life-threatening condition of anaphylaxis it would be mandatory for all teachers to know how to administer an EpiPen.”
I completely agree with this statement from the parents of Alex who died in kindy.
Mr Baptist urged the Government to make anaphylaxis education a mandatory part of teacher training, to introduce legislation banning anaphylactic foods from kindergartens, to implement vigilant monitoring of food brought in, and to ensure kindergartens and schools stock spare EpiPens.
This is why we aren’t going forward with anaphylaxis awareness as fast as we should be.
If there is a child in the school that has anaphylaxis then ALL staff need to be educated and trained to indentify and administer the correct medication for the child.
HOWEVER legistlation banning anaphylactic foods. This is where you lose the battle hands down. This does not achieve the desired effect and turns 99% of the population against you. The Baptists are forgetting that there is more than just peanut allergies. What do you do for those with Wheat or Dairy anaphylaxis? You can’t do anything and to something for one and not the other is discrimination.
If you do go down that path, then you need the food police. Plus everyone’s awareness is lax because everyone thinks it’s safe and bingo someone has an attack.
It is also not the responsibilty of the school to stock spare drugs for their students. The parents should provide the school with the medication.
With one paragraph the Baptists just demolished their credibility on a subconcious level with most of the readers of the article.
However I commend them for pushing through even with the loss of their child. I don’t know what I would do should one of my children die due to anaphylaxis while in someone elses care.
Aaron