This resource was enough for me to skip baking cake to sit down and read more about Connection Cards.  Those busy school nurses over at the National Association of School Nurses have really stepped up the life threatening allergy and anaphylaxis educational resources several notches.  Thanks to a grant from Mylan® the makers of Epi Pen®, this new resource called Connection Cards: Saving Lives at School Cards and it’s companion guide, Saving Lives at School Handbook was recently created and introduced online.  This resource is actually a set of downloadable cards that are meant to be printed out and laminated.  Their purpose is to create conversation between school nurses and parents, allergic students, teachers and staff regarding the management of  life threatening allergies and anaphylaxis.  The handbook seems to be designed to support the card system with deeper explanations and links to more resources.

 image courtesy of Master Isolated Images via freedigitalphotos.net

I just had this conversation yesterday with a friend about how sometimes it is hard for folks to get the allergy conversation going!  I was stunned when I learned on Facebook today about Connection Cards. Wow.  An entire program created to get the conversation going.  The cards are divided into four categories of “discussions”.  For example, one question from the nurse reflection stack is, “How do you think a parent of a child with life threatening allergy feels when they bring their child to school for the first time?”  Or, from the question time stack, “What is the difference between a mild reaction and anaphylaxis?”

image courtesy of National Association of School Nurses

The Four Categories of Discussion Questions

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• Let’s Talk
• Question Time
• Action Item
• School Nurse Reflection

[/unordered_list] All in all, I thought the Connection Cards questions were valid and important a nice jumping off place for school nurses and counselors.  There were a few questions that I might have asked differently, but I believe the purpose of these cards is to start the conversation and then seek out vetted resources.  In my school district, our school counselor is included in our 504 meetings, so I have a strong feeling my counselor will enjoy these cards.  This resource is quite clever and could be very helpful–I already emailed the link to my school district so they see what cards are applicable and if this resource will be of service to their upcoming back to school training.
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• Saving Lives at School Cards
• Saving Lives at School Handbook

Saving Lives Cards (downloadable PDF
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Please share these links for Connection Cards with your school.  They may find them helpful, at worst, you’ve just started a nice conversation regarding heading back to school with life threatening allergies and anaphylaxis!

Thank you NASN for taking another step deeper into the commitment of saving lives of children with Life Threatening Allergies and Anaphylaxis!!!