EpiPens in Schools

jamesmiller120

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of advice/clarification from other parents please.

My 11-year-old son has a shellfish allergy and our GP has advised that he should now carry an EpiPen/adrenaline auto-injector.

I had heard there was legislation or guidance brought in which meant schools are now supposed to keep a spare EpiPen on site for emergencies. However, when I spoke to the school, they told me I would need to provide the EpiPen myself for them to keep.

I’m a little confused as to what the actual rules are now.

Is it:

• a legal requirement for schools to keep their own emergency EpiPens?
• only guidance/best practice?
• or does the child still need to supply their own prescribed one regardless?

I’m in England if that makes any difference.

Would be really interested to hear from any parents, teachers or school staff who know how this works in practice nowadays.

Thanks 🙂

flaneurs_lobster

I had heard there was legislation or guidance brought in which meant schools are now supposed to…

Perhaps if you share the source of your information?

maman

As a former headteacher ( and grandparent of a child with an allergy) , it was the practice to keep an epipen in school to have one available at all times.

As with all other prescribed medication, the parents supplied these and also replaced when unused and out of date.

My DD was able to get a 'double' prescription from her GP for this purpose.

The same was true of asthma inhalers. S

Emmia

I don't think I'd rely on the school having general epi pen(s) if you know your son will need it in the event of a reaction. The pen(s) could have been used already (perhaps earlier in the day) so there is no time for replacement, when your son needs it.

maman

Yes @Emmia , to clarify, at my school we kept a labelled epipen (or inhaler) for each child that had been prescribed one rather than a communal one.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667928/epipens-in-schools

I suspect the rules would be the exact opposite of what you suggest. School staff are not medics and not trained to administer medication, even of the over-the-counter varieties. It is wholly unimaginable that a school would keep a general EpiPen or other such device to be administered when the First Aider determines.

What the school can do is to store on site an EpiPen assigned to a specific individual, which has been made available to the school First Aid team with clear instructions as to when and how the medication is to be administered. Even then, the best practice is often that the First Aider should only assist the individual to administer their own medication. The school will hold "John's EpiPen plus instructions" and "Joanna's EpiPen plus instructions" and so on.

There are variances between EpiPens in the exact dose and formulation of adrenaline that is administered so the correct device has to be used by the correct patient.

The school are correct. You need to provide the correct device for your child's care, together with storage and usage instructions.

Flugelhorn

it will absolutely be an epipen prescribed for that child and that child only - illegal to give anything else

herbalme

I work in a school and the way we handle it is that pupils who have been prescribed an EpiPen still provide their own named pens for school use, usually with one kept centrally and sometimes one carried depending on age/risk assessment.

Schools can also obtain spare emergency adrenaline auto-injectors now under the legislation/guidance brought in a few years ago, but they are generally intended as back-up emergency devices rather than replacing a child’s own prescribed pens.

We order the spare school emergency pens through services like: www.clickpharmacy.co.uk/schools/adrenaline-pens-for-schools

Worth noting though that policies vary quite a bit between schools and academy trusts.

Toothsmith

There are instances where 1 epipen isn't enough. There can be times where 2 aren't!

It's sensible for a school to carry a spare 'emergency' one in case the one provided by the parent for the child isn't enough - but the parent shouldn't rely on the 'school' one being used for their child in the first instance.

I've no idea what the relevent legislations are for who should have what and who should do what - but if a child is collapsed in front of you - an epipen is simple to use and would not cause any harm if it was not an allegic reaction that had caused the collapse. Go on a simple course, or watch a You Tube video on administering one. You might save a life.

Spoonie_Turtle

Sorry but why on earth would you want to not provide your child's prescribed epipen for the school? If they do have a general one for emergency use it's as a backup, for if a child not previously known to have an allergy does have an anaphylactic reaction, or if a child's prescribed epipen(s) doesn't/don't tide them over until the ambulance arrives.

Unless your son attends a school with only one class (and even then it's not a guarantee) it's extremely unlikely he'd be the only one in the school with an allergy requiring an epipen.

I'm no longer up-to-date with the specifics but in general how it works is each child has their own labelled epipen and/or other medication in an individual bag, along with relevant medical information and a log to write down what administered when. My own experience is a little outdated but from family members who work in schools I do know that's still the same. Any extra epipen held by the school would be just that, extra, not in place of a child with a known serious allergy having their own.