Anaphylaxis Management Guidelines

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4 Minimise the risk of allergen exposure 16 Anaphylaxis Management Guidelines
The key to the prevention of anaphylaxis is the identification of allergens and prevention of exposure to these allergens. For the child who has been diagnosed with a severe allergy, there is a range of practical prevention strategies that child care services can implement to minimise exposure to known allergens. When considering appropriate prevention strategies, child care services should take into account factors such as the: allergen involved; age of the child; severity of the allergy (based on information provided by the child’s parent/guardian from the child’s medical practitioner). Planning is essential: Consider how you can minimise the risk of exposure to allergens when planning excursions and special days; Encourage parents/guardians of the child with food allergies to be involved on special days that involve food. 3 Appendix 2 outlines potential exposure scenarios and strategies that a child care service may consider adopting to minimise risk of anaphylaxis for a child with severe allergies. It is particularly important to have procedures in place to ensure that child care service casual or relief staff are kept informed of the child who may be subject to anaphylaxis. These procedures should include the steps required for prevention and the appropriate emergency response. A designated staff member should be given the responsibility for briefing new staff (including food coordinators, volunteers or casual relief staff) about these procedures. ‘Allergy aware’ versus ‘nut-free’ In communicating the strategies in place within a child care service to relevant stakeholders, it is important that the services do not promote that they either ‘ban nuts’ or are ‘nut-free’ as: It is impractical to implement and enforce; There is no evidence of effectiveness; It does not encourage the development of strategies for avoidance in the wider child care service community; It may encourage complacency about risk minimisation strategies (for staff, children and parents/guardians) if a food is banned. 4 There are a number of foods that children may be allergic to. It is therefore not always possible to remove all allergens. It is better for child care services to promote themselves as ‘allergy aware’ and implement practical, ageappropriate strategies to minimise exposure to known allergens. Whilst services are advised not to claim to be ‘nut-free’, minimising exposure to particular foods such as peanuts and tree nuts can reduce the level of risk. Minimisation strategies can include removing nut spreads and products containing nuts from the child care service menu. It does not, however, include removing products that ‘may contain traces’ of peanuts/tree nuts. Child care services that do not provide meals may also choose to request that parents/ guardians of children who use the service to refrain from using any nut spreads in sandwiches or products containing nuts in the lunchbox. 4 Appendix 4 provides practical tips to minimise the risk and to become ‘allergy aware’ in your child care service. Western Australian Child Care and Outside School Hours Care Services 17
Page 1 and 2: Anaphylaxis Management Guidelines f
Page 3 and 4: Contents Introduction 3 Legislative
Page 5 and 6: Introduction Anaphylaxis is a sever
Page 7 and 8: Actively involving the parents/guar
Page 9 and 10: 7 Steps to ‘allergy awareness’
Page 11 and 12: 1 Understand roles and responsibili
Page 13 and 14: Licensee/Supervising Officer should
Page 15 and 16: 2 Determine what allergies you need
Page 17: 3 Assess the risk of allergen expos
Page 21 and 22: Staff training Child care services
Page 23 and 24: Adrenaline autoinjector for general
Page 25 and 26: It is important to work with the ch
Page 27 and 28: Resources/useful links Department o
Page 29 and 30: Scope This policy applies to: All c
Page 31 and 32: It is understood that early recogni
Page 33 and 34: Staff will be debriefed after each
Page 35 and 36: SCENARIO STRATEGY WHO Latex allergi
Page 37 and 38: Name: Child Care Service: DOB: Sect
Page 39 and 40: Appendix 5 Anaphylaxis Management C
Page 41 and 42: Appendix 7 ASCIA Action Plans The A
Page 43 and 44: in their throat will recede. Howeve
Page 46: This document can be made available

Anaphylaxis Management Guidelines

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