I saw this article last night, “Ambulance called to middle school for peanut allergy”, which is about a student in South Dakota who experienced a food allergic reaction in which the story ended well and even better than well! Mickelson Middle School followed the Food Allergy Action Plan, which was already in place. The student recovered just fine but the question arose as to how he was contaminated or exposed to peanut? How can this situation be avoided in the future? The Brookings School district in South Dakota committed to finding solutions!
He ate with other students who did not eat peanuts at lunch that day. The school sells peanut butter products including PB&J sandwiches. He experienced the reaction during PE, which takes place right after lunch, so he could have been exposed at PE somehow too. There seems to be discussion about whether left over residue from peanut was on the couch that he was sitting on. I think it is wonderful that the school is reviewing cross contact issues and actually addressing the fact that cross contact could be an issue.
I hear all the times from folks that they don’t worry about allergens being close to their child, they are only in danger if they ingest it. The problem here is that they seem to believe that their child must consciously digest the allergen. The student in S. Dakota did not consciously ingest a peanut. He was exposed unconsciously by cross contact. Did he touch peanut residue and then with the same hand eat a sandwich? Did he touch the residue and then touch a loose tooth in his mouth…or worse yet: did he pick his nose after touching peanut residue?
We’ll never know the answer but the good news is that the student’s school district is logically and unemotionally addressing the issue of how to reduce risk of peanut exposure for students with anaphylaxis to peanuts.
Bravo to the Brookings School District for doing the right thing to save a student’s life from a potentially fatal food allergic reaction!
Bravo to Mickelson Middle School for not panicking and following the Food Allergy Action Plan,!
These folks are food allergy HEROS today!
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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!..