Association apologises in court for nut allergy death of boy, 15

[SilverLining]

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-karting-association-apologises-in-court-for-nut-allergy-death-of-boy-15-20140217-32vdl.html

[SilverLining]

Jack ate a cookie thinking they only contained white chocolate and had an allergic reaction within half an hour, the court heard.
The boy's father, Robert, gave ventolin and then administered CPR when his son collapsed, the court heard. Jack's condition worsened the day after he was admitted to hospital and his family turned off his life support on September 30, the court heard.

[momma2boys]

Very sad. Curious though, the Dr said nothing about epi and the father only used ventolin. Can they find the association liable if the family didn't provide epi? I.understand cookies shouldn't have been provided but outcome may have been different with epi.

[SilverLining]

The father was there.  And this was a 15 year old, not a small child.  With what little I have read, I don't see it's the associations fault.

[momma2boys]

Exactly what I was thinking. It is hard to discuss these situations without appearing insensitive or accusatory.   

[lakeswimr]

Exactly what I was thinking. It is hard to discuss these situations without appearing insensitive or accusatory.   

They said their food would be allergy-free and the changed supplier and served allergens.  I think they are at fault. 

[CMdeux]

Yes, it does sound as though there is blame enough to go around.   

"Apology" just seems so inadequate in the face of a preventable death.   

[SilverLining]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see where it says they said the food would be allergen free.

[CMdeux]

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-karting-association-apologises-in-court-for-nut-allergy-death-of-boy-15-20140217-32vdl.html

Jack's parents had notified the association of their son's allergies before he attended the camp and were told food would be supplied, the Coroners Court heard on Monday.

Ms Ellis said the association was aware there was seven people at the camp who had food allergies, but that it had no written policies in place and that whatever plans it had "were clearly inadequate".

I've seen other reports which have specifically stated that the camp organizers stated that they would provide safe food-- a mix-up occurred and due to an unscheduled personnel shift, it sounds like there was subsequently NO effort made to make the food nut-free, nor was the child or family notified about the change in food service.

[lakeswimr]

'Jack's parents had notified the association of their son's allergies before he attended the camp and were told food would be supplied, the Coroners Court heard on Monday.
But a staff shortage on the first day of the camp meant association staff ordered food for participants from a Subway outlet, including cookies with white chocolate and macadamia nuts, Leading Senior Constable Tania Cristiano told the court.'

To me this reads as though the parents told the camp about his food allergies and were told they would supply (safe) food.  I'm sure the intention of telling the camp of his allergies was to ensure safe meals.  If the camp had told them they could not supply allergy-free food the family would not have sent him.  The whole 'but a staff shortage...meant the association staff ordered food for participants from Subway...' also reads as though this was something not planned at the time the parents notified the camp of the allergy.  Sounds like the camp is responsible and messed up big time.

Sounds also like the family might have had a doctor who was not up to date on food allergies and so they didn't know to use an epi or weren't given one in the first place.

Very tragic.

[LinksEtc]

I think this belongs in this thread    ...



Teenagers with asthma at increased risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis
https://www.mcri.edu.au/news/teenagers-asthma-increased-risk-life-threatening-anaphylaxis

According to Professor Katie Allen, the concern is that for these teens, an anaphylactic reaction may be more likely to be mistaken for an asthma attack, resulting in delayed administration of an adrenaline (epinephrine) autoinjector and increasing the risk of fatal attacks.

15-year-old Jack Irvine

Jack inadvertently ate a biscuit containing macadamia nuts while attending a catered go-karting camp

Jack had a delay in onset of symptoms and when they appeared they were interpreted as asthma. It was not until an ambulance arrived that Jack's father realised the reaction was anaphylaxis.

---


Linking ...
Re: Standard Protocol for "Asthma Action Plans"