Summer officially arrived in Reno this last week and I am a 100% heat whimp and avoid the direct summer sun at all costs. My personal goal all summer long is to move from the shade to air conditioning and back to the shade. Trips up to Lake Tahoe are fruitful but I usually worry about the kid’s EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors staying cool enough. Alas, last summer I ordered this little gem from Allergy Apparel: The Kool Blanket. It worked for me, so I wanted to share with you! Please know that I paid for my The Kool Blanket and the lovely folks at Allergy Apparel don’t know how much I love it..until today.
photo courtesy of Allergy Apparel (please note, the The Kool Blanket and pouch are sold separately so you can buy a style that suits your personality)
The The Kool Blanket simply provides extra protection from the heat without having to try to store EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors in coolers, which can bring the temperature down too low. The Kool Blanket is used at room temperature (please read and follow the instructions from Allergy Apparel on usage in case they have changed). I simply wrap the The Kool Blanket around my EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors and then store them inside our EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors pouch that I also purchased from Allergy Apparel. The The Kool Blanket fits in perfectly.
photo courtesy of Allergy Apparel
From what I understand the The Kool Blanket is a Cyropak product that was developed to help keep items cool. As EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors carrying souls should know, always (without fail) follow the manufacturers instructions for heat and cold exposure. My family’s goal is to simply keep our EpiPen® epinephrine auto-injectors from over heating and possibly loosing their efficacy. It gets so hot here during the summer that we carry ice chests just for grocery store runs! I am such a whimp that I carry a personal mister too. It’s not pretty.
Update: Homa from Oh Mah Deehness! asked about the Auvi-Q® and YES, my trainer fits!
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!..
Thank you for this- I didn’t know this was out there!
Caroline, can you try the blanket on your Auvi-Q trainer and see how it fits? Thank you!
Homa, Yes it does! I just added the photo to my blog. Thanks for reminding me.
Nutrimom, my guess is that these are going to sell fast… I bought mine at the end of summer last year.
Hey, this is a helpful review. I’ve been thinking about these Kool Blankets, but I had questions about whether they’d fit in the case I carry, when/where I’d be likely to use them, etc. Now I’m going to pick one up from AA. Thanks!
Hi Josh, I’m sure if called Allergy Apparel and told them the size of your case, they would help. They are SUPER nice people. I’ve been buying from them for years!
This is a great idea. At first I thought that I could just make my own pouch and then purchase the cooling sleeve. Then I began to wonder if the pouch I carry my histamine, syringes and ice pack would be big enough. I think it will. I am going to give this a try and if not, I will order the cooling sleeve.
Yes it is going to be close to 109 here tomorrow. It is a good time to start remembering that we need to worry about epinephrine getting too hot. I am saving this page so that I can come back if I need to.
Thanks for sharing this! I was looking into getting a Frio bag, but now will have to compare the two. Do you keep the Kool Blanket in the fridge at home so it’s ready for outings?
I keep mine at room temp..but in a cool room. It is best to ask Allergy Apparel how to use. They suggest rotating them as they heat up, but if it is that hot out, we are inside!
• Insulated Wallet : The insulated wallet was originally designed for diabetic medications but food-allergy parents quickly realized that it also works great for their epinephrine auto-injectors. When Allergy Apparel™ first offered the Frio insulated wallets we asked consumer, Jason, to write a review from a food allergy parent’s perspective. Jason wrote, “We found that the insulated wallet is a nice solution for keeping your EpiPen from roasting in the hot summer. Previously we had just tried to keep it with us in random places to try and keep it at the proper temp during hot summer days and never found a good solution. The nice thing about this is we just have to ‘activate’ the inner part of the wallet once a week. That process just involves soaking it in water for 10-15 minutes and leaving it dry on the counter for about an hour. Then it’s ready to use for the next week. Just toss it in the wallet and put your EpiPen and anything else in there. We keep an EpiPen Jr and a small bottle of Benadryl. We just leave it on the counter and whenever we go out we just toss it on the top of the diaper bag (they don’t want it to get buried at the bottom of the bag as it needs air circulation to work properly).” ⁃ ~Retail $31.95 but Allergy Apparel™ is currently running a promotion.
Thank you for the info. Our son is going to college this fall in the Midwest and his room does not have air conditioning. I’ve been concerned about how to keep his Epi-Pens from overheating or getting too cold in the fridge. The tip was much appreciated. THANKS! Ann
We are getting college ready too and just pulled a red bag to store his Epipen and our cool blanket. Glad to see we are not alone! Good luck to your son! My son’s school in is Southern California, so the weather should be fairly steady, but for outings he will need something.