School Renewal: Revisit Food Allergy Plans

Next week, my kids return to school and on the top of our list is revisiting our 504 Plans regarding management of  food allergy.  Actually, we update my daughter’s plan in January instead of August.  The mid-year cycle helps my daughter stand out versus being part of the large stack of 504 Plans reviewed in right before school starts.  In our district, school nurses and teachers are on hand only two weeks prior to the beginning of school.  Reviewing mid-year helps us all reset, refocus and update any previous policy-it’s just a great check in time!

For my high school aged son, I already met with his advisers prior to the winter break and upon return next week, the staff is going to practice responding to an emergency allergic reaction.  They hope to insure readiness and to catch any glitches in their procedures.  In addition, we discussed how the first half of the year flowed and what should we change, from the parent or teacher side.  It was a great meeting and I feel confident that they’ll hit the ground running next week.

In case you are need of a Food Allergy Action Plan, below are a few links to several versions available on the web. Your physician’s office may also have their own version too-just ask!  UPDATE:  On Monday I will share two Anaphylaxis forms that the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada is currently using.  The Las Vegas walk chair just shared them with me and they are very interesting and worthy of a special discussion!

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• Food Allergy Action Plan created by National Jewish(available in English and Spanish)

• Epi Pen Action Plan  from American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) 

• Anaphylaxis Emergency Action Plan  from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) 

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For some reason, when everyone returns after a nice winter break, all previous thoughts sometimes drop off the radar of classmates.  So, asking the school to refresh food allergy education is not a bad idea either.  I plan on visiting my daughter’s class within the first two weeks with my latest nut free Sunbutter snack in hand!  Then while eating the snack, I can read them a book about food allergies and get them re-connected with the idea of helping out their food allergic buddies.

I hope you enjoy a wonderful food allergy incident free second half of school year!

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