I think I can safely say that as parents of food allergic children, it takes a certain amount of letting go and trust when it comes to school, parties, playdates and field trips. My first grader, who is severely allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and legumes (as well as asthmatic) is pretty well versed on how to keep himself safe in food situations. I say situations, because for these kids, it is something they always have to be on guard for and be able to self advocate. Which brings me to a concerning issue that was recently brought to my attention.
Several weeks ago my son attend a field trip to the zoo. His teacher, who is trained on how to use epipens and what symptoms to watch for should he have an allergic reaction , was not assigned to his group; another parent chaperone was. She had no medicine kit on her, and didn’t even know she had a child with severe food allergies in her group. Furthermore, the children were offered cheese crackers as a snack. Thankfully my first grader politely declined and said he was allergic to cheese. My immediate concern was, what if the cracker seemed safe, but still had milk ingredients in it, or even nut ingredients? In a large zoo, where the classes were spread out, what would have happened if someone couldn’t find his teacher in time, to get the medicine kit to him? All that valuable time would have been lost, and if a reaction had occurred, it could have cost him his life.
Case in point number two: On yet another field trip to a botanical garden just two weeks later, another parent chaperone who is familiar with my son’s allergies let me know that children were opening peanut butter sandwhiches left and right during the picnic lunch time…right next to my son. I have always been the first to say that it is probably unrealistic to ban specific foods in the cafeteria at school, but field trips are different. The environment is unpredictable, usually more close knit and not as closely monitored by school staff. Also, all those brown lunch bags are not always sealed tight, and are stacked on each other during transit on the bus. I firmly believe that peanut butter, especially because it is an airborne allergen, should be eliminated from school field trips.
These are just two recent situations that we lucked out on. What bothers me is that mistakes can and do happen. And we’re trusting other people to keep our small children safe. It is a hard pill to swallow sometimes.
My son’s in Kindergarten, and we have arranged with his teacher that either my husband or I will be chaperones on all field trips, since she is very concerned about keeping him safe in an uncontrolled environment. (Shhh…don’t tell the other parents, they have to take turns.) I simply don’t think I would be comfortable allowing him to go without one of us. Fortunately he’s still at an age that he gets excited when we show up to spend time with him at school. Hopefully he’ll be able to manage his own allergies by the time he no longer admits to knowing us!
That’s a good idea. I am sure my son’s teacher wouldn’t mind, my only hinderance would be logistics involving getting a sitter for my 2 and 4 year old boys. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly, your story really hit home for me! I have been there, oh boy have I. The situation where your child was surrounded by PB sandwiches–that happened to my daughter at a Girl Scout (non-school sponsored) field trip. Luckily, she stays far away from the stuff so she was OK. But still!
My former school was so used to me calling the health office regarding field trip procedures that they were literally waiting for my call after the first 2 times. But they always had the action plan in place–I think my nagging worked!
Our new school now offers a health aide to attend field trips with non-allergic kids if the parents aren’t chaperoning. This is amazing to me, but I still want myself or my husband to attend a field trip just to see how it all goes.
It’s a wonder we let them out at all, isn’t it?
But, at least they’re learning how to cope with their allergies w/out us around. I’m glad everything worked out for your son and let’s be glad our kids are so well-versed in their allergies.
Ah, the field trip. Thanks for talking about this.
That is precisely where I was yesterday–at Plimoth Plantation with 2 busloads of 2nd graders. My PA son is not yet in elementary school so this was actually my non-allergic son’s class. There are three PA students in his class of 20. There are other PA kids in the other 3 classes as well. Here are 2 things that bothered me during yesterday’s field trip.
1. Only the teacher had the epi-pens and the three PA kids were with 3 different chaperones (sans epi-epns) wandering in 3 separate groups all over Plimoth Plantation. How would the epi-pens ever have gotten to those kids in time?
2. The PA/TNA child in my group ate with us at tables in an enclosed outdoor tented area. His brother (also PA/TNA) is in a different class. His teacher made him eat standing, away from all the other children, outside the tented enclosure, with her because she was worried about what might be on the tables. While I appreciate her effort to protect him, I am under the impression that all one needs to do is wipe a table down and you’re “good to go”. I felt bad for him having to eat away from his buddies. Maybe he didn’t even notice, but I made a mental note of it for my PA son’s future field trips.
I am planning to follow in Libby’s footsteps and attend all field trips. Fortunately, this is one of the few food allergy issues the school has addressed–they prefer the parents of food allergic children come on field trips.
Where would I find definitive evidence that peanuts are an airborn allergen? I would like to show that to my husbands idiot doctor! Someone walked past my husband at work with a bowl of something with peanut sauce on it and my husband went into anaphylactic shock. He went to see an allergist a few days later at his employers request and the doctor told him that anaphylaxis from being NEAR peanuts was impossible and it was all in his head. I was furious!!! So, if you have some good evidence I would love a link. Thank you
Charmaine, I found this link…it might be helpful to show to your husband’s doctor.
http://www.allergysafecommunities.ca/assets/common_beliefs_faan_2003.pdf
Thanks so much Jenny and Jennifer for sharing your stories. I especially love the idea of a designated health aide. With four kids and a crazy schedule it is a miracle I ever get into any of their classrooms, let alone a field trip. So I have to have a certain amount of faith that when John is at school or at field trip he is safe. I think also as they get older, teaching our kids to become strong self advocates is essential. I was proud of John for declining the cheese cracker…he probably did so because I have reiterated over and over to him to NEVER accept food from anyone unless I know about it, or have approved it. I think in general, as food allergies are on the rise schools need to have an action plan in place even during field trips. I have learned so much from your stories and ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, that is very informative! I learned a lot reading it.
I did too! Sometimes I forget all the specifics of what actually causes a reaction and it is a good reminder for me as well.
Ugh, yes. We go through this, too. Thank God allergy parents are sticking together. I try to always make sure I attend, just in case.
Thanks for the link! I think I’ve got you on my blogroll, too!
Wow Kelly, I think you hit a hot spot. My allergic boys are still in preschool so it is a pretty controled environment. But, my PA son starts kindergarten next year in public school. There are so many things to worry about. I am really suprised at the lack of planing by the school to make sure the PA kids are with their EPI pen. Given the stories I have read here we will do everything possible to make sure either my son or I attends his field trips.
I think many schools are still trying to figure out the best plan…kind of a “learn as we go along” approach. In the meantime, I totally agree…go along as much as you can. No one is a better advocate than you.
Hi, I just recently found your blog, they suspect my 12 year old daughter is moderately allergic to eggs (she had a RAST test that showed it and we have to go on a egg free diet challenge for a week). Anyways, I have been reading through the achrives and came upon this article and I had to comment.
The one thing that bothered me is the comment you made about banning foods on field trips, while that may seem like an answer, the facilities these schools are visiting are public buildings in which other schools and the general population visit. Unless you have the facility ban the foods that cause the issue, there is still a potential they can be exposed.
I would agree, that if someone has a small child with this type of allergies, it might be best to attend with them. One of my questions with older kids, are they allowed to carry their own Eppi Pens? I know with our schools, older kids with Asthma can carry their inhalers with permission, do they allow the same with the Eppi Pens?