Have you heard of either of these before?? Hailing from California, all schools are required to keep an emergency Earthquake kit for each student. I’ve always provided extra items in case my son or daughter forgot their lunch or if there were a shelter in place and the kids were stuck at school for emergency reasons. My son’s new high school maintains an evacuation kit with food, water and medication and recently asked to for a list of safe foods and extra Epi Pens®.
As this school year gets under way, please consider asking your school nurse or principal if Earthquake or Evacuation Kits are maintained in your child’s school. If so, then ask to prepare a food allergy safe Earthquake or Evacuation kit.
I had never heard of Earthquake or Shelter In Place Kits before but am grateful for that teacher who first brought it up when my son was in preschool in California and asked me to replace unsafe foods. Clearly, we don’t want our children separated from us during an emergency at school, but natural disasters happen and I want my children to have access to food. Most of all, I need that peace of mind knowing they are as safe as they can be.
I also learned the hard way about carrying safe foods when my son was two years old and he spent 8 hours at Children’s Hospital Oakland without a drop of food at age two. The hospital staff were afraid to feed him anything from the cafeteria or kitchen for fear of cross contact. After that, I carried his beloved canned beans, a can opener and crackers in the trunk of my car. To this day, I carry a jar of safe pasta sauce and dried pasta in the even of an impromptu homework session with buddies or sleep overs (he is 14 years old now). I also have my kids carry single serve packets of Dakota pumpkin seeds, No Nuttin Granola Bars and Sunbutter in their backpacks.
Like my dad always says…be prepared, if you have it, you’ll never need it. For the most part, that has been true and if I ever needed something and was prepared, I felt grateful. It all works out.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
This is interesting! I guess you could add wildfire to the list of NV school issues requiring prep.
You know Judie, given our last year, this is a good suggestion!