Fatal Reaction

[hk]

This girl was with her (doctor) father and given 3 EpiPens, but still died.  It sounds like treatment was delayed because she initially exhibited no symptoms. 

http://www.news10.net/news/local/article/252201/2/Allergy-attack-claims-Carmichael-teen-at-summer-camp

[rebekahc]

 

[yelloww]

That's so awful!

And so many of us wouldn't Epi if there weren't any symptoms..... I know I wouldn't.

[candyguru]

That's so awful!

And so many of us wouldn't Epi if there weren't any symptoms..... I know I wouldn't.

even if they did epi immediately, it may not have made any difference.. sad to say, it seems the epi pen is no guarantee of recovery... it helps but not 100% successful    

such a sad tragic event

[CMdeux]

Exactly what I was thinking, CandyGuru.

This is the scenario that has left me horror-stricken for the notion that if one just "carried one of those injections" all will always be well. 

No, not always.  My heart breaks for her family.   

[Jessica]

There is a LOT of misinformation about epi pens and allergies among the non-allergic. On a local news station's facebook they recently posted about keeping bees in the city and the concern with bee sting allergies. One person said that if someone's allergic, they have an epi pen anyway so if they got stung, they could just inject themselves and go on their merry way. Another person (who is allergic to bee stings) and I both told her that the epi is not a cure, you still have to go the ER, not a guarantee, etc and she thanked us for the education. It's rare anymore when someone is open to information like that. Other people on the thread were not quite as nice.

[GoingNuts]

Absolutely awful story.  Something to discuss with my son.   

[yelloww]

Exactly what I was thinking, CandyGuru.

This is the scenario that has left me horror-stricken for the notion that if one just "carried one of those injections" all will always be well. 

No, not always.  My heart breaks for her family.   

And this is what infuriated me about that horrid ad that Epi put out with the kid in the car w/ the birthday cake.

[aggiedog]

Horrible.  My heart goes out to the family.

This is exactly why we did OIT with dd.

[Stinky10]

That's so awful!

And so many of us wouldn't Epi if there weren't any symptoms..... I know I wouldn't.

Our allergist was very clear in his early action plans - she said immediate epi with known ingestion - with or without symptoms.  So this was when he was 3, 4, 5, and I think around 6 it stopped saying that.   I wonder if that was b/c he would be able to communicate symptoms better as he got older?   When comparing notes with others I only ran across a few people who were told that - but ours was clear.  I think I'm going to get it back in there. 

[GingerPye]

How Awful.   

[my3guys]

  Sitting at my computer crying.  That poor family.  I applaud them for speaking out so soon after her death in hopes others will learn.

I wonder what kind of reaction history she had? Or if it even matters?  Our plan doesn't say epi with known ingestion.  I'm going to talk to my allergist about this.

[YouKnowWho]

What bothered me on the facebook comments from the original news story was the amount of blame on the parents.  How it took so long to get to the hospital - why did they delay epi pens, how could the parent let the child eat food they didn't provide, etc. 

But moreso because I read a few comments about how epi won't help cardiac or digestive issues.  Or how only peanut allergies are that dangerous (but you all know the personal bias I have against that).

I will say this - many comments made about why peanuts need to be removed from these situations and many people liking and agreeing as opposed to the whole your precious snowflake needs to watch out. 

[aggiedog]

I will say this - many comments made about why peanuts need to be removed from these situations and many people liking and agreeing as opposed to the whole your precious snowflake needs to watch out.

Hmm, maybe the tide is slowly turning in the public's eye?  That would be something.

[SilverLining]

YKW, I think a lot of parents seem to need to blame the parents.  It makes them feel safer to convince themselves it can never happen to them...because they don't allow <fill in the blank>.

It's the real "false sense of security" in my opinion.  Believing every fatal reaction you read about is outside the realm of possibility for your own family.