Back-to-School Preparation

With the arrival of back-to-school season, many essential requirements need to be fulfilled. Not only do children need to make necessary back to school preparations, the parents equally uphold the responsibility of ensuring a child’s health and well-being. For parents especially, there happens to be a long checklist of tasks, preparations, and precautions to undertake. This planning becomes even more crucial for the parents of children suffering from various allergies, as well as asthma. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 8% of the children in the United States are affected by food allergies, while asthma affects 1 out of every 10 school-going children. It is therefore essential to prepare children before going to school to tackle any crisis in order to keep them on track with their health and education.

A serious allergic reaction may occur during school time as a result of a food allergy or due to unknown causes, especially in susceptible children. Peanut, milk, eggs, nuts, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish are the most common foods that are responsible for 90% of anaphylactic reactions among children in the US. Common symptoms of such allergic reaction include redness, hives and swelling, difficulty in breathing, and in severe cases, a complete shutdown of body systems (known as anaphylactic shock). Such risk of anaphylaxis in children warrants adequate prompt measures such as the keeping of epinephrine auto-injections to use in case of an emergency. This emergency epinephrine is known by the name of Epi-pen and Auvi-q, which are required to be re-filled before going back to school. It is recommended that a child should be provided with two such injectors, and both the children and school management should know about the location and usage of this life-saving equipment.

For children with food allergies, parents inevitably need to develop an “Anaphylaxis Action Plan” which can be implemented in case of an emergency. Parents should schedule an appointment to develop such an action plan that enables the concerning bodies to recognize the possible allergens, susceptibilities, and concurrent health risks. It would include a list of recognizable signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction, location and method of using epi-pen or auvi-q, and how to call for emergency services if the need arises. This action plan incorporates help of school management, guidance of children, and apt risk management strategies. Schedule an appointment today to deliver your child health and safety.

Asthma experts recommend that every asthmatic patient should possess an “Asthma action plan,” also referred to as asthma management, for both short term and long term management of asthma. School kids need an integrated plan for adequate asthma control ensuring availability of emergency medicines to tackle asthma crisis which may arise when inflammation of airways gets worse due to asthma triggers. One such rescue medicine is albuterol, which is used via inhaler to decrease airway hyperreactivity and counteract the effect of an asthmatic attack. Essential preparatory tasks before the start of school include re-fill of asthma inhalers and making an appointment to establish a dedicated asthma action plan for children.

Ample steps taken prior to the start of school on part of both children and parents are required for augmented health and safety, including the establishment of action plans and re-filling of emergency medical equipment. To accomplish this task, parents need to book appointments to ensure that their children’s allergies and asthma are in control not only at home but even at school.

REFERENCES

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