Information About Your Child's Food Allergy & Medication

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Food Allergy Action Plan

Providing information about your child’s food allergy and medications to the school is critical. With the help of your child’s allergist (or other licensed health care provider), complete a one-page Food Allergy Action Plan. Your child’s school may have its own form, and it may have a slightly different name (i.e., Emergency Care Plan); if not, you can download one from the FAAN website at www.foodallergy.org/page/food-allergy-action-plan1.

The form should include

  • A complete list of foods to which your child is allergic.
  • The possible symptoms of your child’s allergic reaction.
  • The treatment that should be administered to your child, and under what circumstances.
  • Contact information for emergency medical services (i.e., 911), your child’s allergist, and you.
  • A current picture of your child.
  • The signature of your child’s allergist (or other licensed health care provider).

Besides the Food Allergy Action Plan, the school may ask you to provide information such as allergy test results and any history of your child’s allergic reactions. The school also may require you to complete additional medical forms not necessarily related to food allergy.

Epinephrine Auto-Injector

You also must provide the school with at least one epinephrine auto-injector, if prescribed. In fact, many parents provide at least two auto-injectors, in case a second dose is needed. Epinephrine auto-injectors should have a shelf life of 1 year, so be sure to check the expiration date on the auto-injector before giving it to the school. You may want to ensure that the expiration date is at least 12 months away, so that you will not need to replace the device during the school year.

Additional Medications

Depending on your child’s circumstances, you may need to provide the school with additional medications such as antihistamine and/or asthma inhalers. Remember, however, that epinephrine is the first line of defense for treating a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, and that all efforts should be directed toward its immediate use. Research clearly shows that food allergy fatalities are most commonly associated either with not using epinephrine or with delaying epinephrine treatment.[1],[2],[3],[4]

[1] The Use of Epinephrine in the Treatment of Anaphylaxis. Position Statement from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Available online at: http://www.aaaai.org/Aaaai/media/MediaLibrary/PDF%20Documents/Practice%20and%20Parameters/Anaphylaxis-in-schools-1998.pdf.    

[2] Bock SA, Muñoz-Furlong A, Sampson HA. Fatalities due to anaphylactic reactions to foods. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2001;107:191-193.

[3] Bock SA, Muñoz-Furlong A, Sampson HA. Further fatalities due to anaphylactic reactions to food: 2001 to 2006. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2007;119:1016-1018.

[4] Sampson HA, Mendelson L, Rosen JP. Fatal and near-fatal anaphylactic reactions to food in children and adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine 1992;327:380-384.