8% of children now have food allergies. 25% of anaphylaxis reactions in schools occur in students without previous food allergy diagnosis.
Make epinephrine - a life-saving drug - as commonplace and accessible as fire extinguishers and AEDs with a fully customizable, conspicuous cabinet.
In an anaphylaxis emergency, when seconds count, we have to eliminate the following questions:
is the epinephrine? Locked in the nurse's office? Where is the nurse?
administrative red tape will slow down finding and administering medication?
can you administer medication amidst panic and chaos?
will an ambulance arrive if we can't find or use the epinephrine?
We do this by installing an Allergy Emergency Kit™ on the wall closest to the nut-free table in the lunch room, in each major wing of the school, and in a gymnasium that is closest to the outside playing fields. Then:
Optional door alarm sounds whenever cabinet door is open.
The locking version is appropriate for high theft or vandalism areas. Otherwise we always recommend the non-locking version w/ siren.
Clearly indicate cabinet contents with lettering.
3D Signage indicates from any angle where cabinet is hung.
On locking versions the proprietary acrylic window breaks into non-lethal chunks.
Velcro backing allows you to store what you need.
My name is Brandon Wilson. When my daughter was just two years old we discovered, with a real anaphylactic reaction, that she was highly allergic to cashews (and other tree nuts). As I followed the ambulance to the hospital I realized that I had just been instantly moved from the "what the heck is with all these nut allergic kids?" category to the "OH MY GOD, what do I do about my nut allergic kid!!!" category.
My wife Jennifer and I are anxious people to begin with - and what I have noticed about other parents - especially parents of peanut allergic children - is a constant state of alert, of anxiety, that our wonderful children are wandering through a world where nuts and other allergens are ubiquitous - and people are frequently OBLIVIOUS to the seriousness and specific nature of the problem.
What I have been particularly incensed by is the inability of people to imagine changing their behavior in regard to lunch choices, baked goods and holiday feasts to truly make a gathering place safe for the young (pre-age of reason kids).
When you can't necessarily trust anyone, even family, to truly keep food allergens away from your child, you are left with the next level of preparedness - ensuring that you will never be ANYWHERE without access to Benadryl and Epinephrine.
With this in mind, I created a wall-mounted Allergy Emergency Kit™ which puts Benadryl and Epinephrine in a secure, conspicuous and 24/7/365 accessible place - appropriate for anywhere where an anaphalactic allergic reaction could happen - especially school lunch rooms (nuts), gym class (bee stings) and seafood restaurants (shellfish).
Until we, as a society, can figure out what causes anaphalactic allergies - and how to prevent such severe reactions, the only way to ensure the safety of our children is to ensure that emergency supplies are always just seconds away - and to raise awareness in the general population through conspicuous display of emergency materials so that everyone starts having anaphylaxis risks, symptoms and first aid in the back of their mind when they are caring for our children.
This Original Allergy Emergency Kit™ product line is only one step toward a safer environment for our kids - but if we can save just one life - just one child in the whole world - I will consider this effort well worth whatever time and money it takes to bring it to market.