Anaphylaxis in Schools – Podcast
Hi all
Leslea Harmon from http://allergyware.wordpress.com does a weekly podcast on food allergies which is very good.
She recently posted on her blog that she was losing her voice and wouldn’t be to able to produce one this week.
I thought I’d help a bit and do a podcast for her to use on her show. Hopefully she can use it, but I’m proud of my first ever almost complete podcast so I thought I’d post it here as well.
I spoke about anaphylaxis in schools, have a listen and let me know your thoughts on this topic.
Click here for the podcast (MP3). Or as I like to call it a ghetocast (thanks Frank Kern for that term) since it’s just me talking and no extra bells or whistles.
Thanks
Aaron
Aaron, I loved what you sent and I hope you will love how it sounds mixed in with the music. It was a real treat to listen to what you and Melanie did to get the school ready and all checked out, and I hope it will help a lot of parents. It certainly has inspired me!! Thank you!!!
Leslea
Hi Aaron.
I read your post on peanutallergy.com. I have a seven year old daughter with anaphalactic peanut allergy. Came to check out your podcast. Though we disagree on some points (I’ve homeschooled both my kids since before we knew of my daughter’s allergy) I think you did a great job. Seems like you’ve found a great school that is willing to work hard to keep your son safe. I definately appreciate both your podcast and your blog as they help bring attention to food allergies.
Julie
Tennessee, USA
Hi Aaron, I enjoyed listening to your podcast. My son is 11 and has just changed schools to start middle school and we are facing all those challenges which we dealt with in his primary school. But we are lucky like you and found a really helpful and understanding school and my son is also the first severe peanut allergy child they have dealt with. I also went and showed a lot of the staff members how to use an epipen and they have now all had training on how to use an epipen and they have also hired a school nurse which certainly makes me breathe a little bit easier.
Anyway there is always new challenges too overcome with as they grow older. So wishing you all the luck in the world and hope your son has a fun time in his new school.
Kind regards,
Michelle.
Hi Aaron,
Our son Thomas is about to start year one in January 07 and he also has dairy, egg and peanut anaphylaxis. We’ve found the process of trying to find a school where Tom would be safe very difficult. We’ve also decided to go with a private school because the response we’d had from the local government schools had been really luke warm.
Interestingly enough, the private school we’ve chosen was the third we’d visited, the first two told us that “their insurance company wouldn’t cover them if anyone other than a trained nurse administered the Epipen”. As you can understand it’s just beyond unacceptable to imagine them waiting around for the school nurse in an emergency situation (and I’m not even sure if it’s legal for a teacher with duty-of-care to refuse to give life saving medication).
In the end we’ve found a great school, the nurse contacted me last month and has asked me to help her prepare a presentation to the teachers before Tom starts. It’s been wonderful, maybe I won’t end up with grey hair from worry next year after all
All the best,
Dannie