Food Allergy Death: Camp Held Liable

It's such a sad story...A 13-year old Australian boy died from anaphylactic shock after eating a food pouch that contained peanuts.

The boy was a cadet on a 3-day training camp. His parents had informed the appropriate authorities about their son's peanut allergy. As a matter of fact, SEVEN of the cadets were known to have a peanut allergy. The medical information provided by the parents was not distributed to those who handed out food to the cadets.

So what can we learn from this experience?

Never worry that you are being too over-protective.
Make sure you've spoken to every adult who will have direct contact with your child.
Insist that your child wear a medical bracelet or other identifier at all times. Consider providing safe food and instructing your child to eat only provided food.
Ensure that epinephrine is easily available to your allergic child.

We must allow our children to experience normal life. Take proper precautions and always listen to your gut.

Here's the whole news article about this tragedy.

3 comments:

Nowheymama said...

This makes me so sad.

Jane Anne said...

This story hurts my heart. Great reminders- great things to remember. Thank you for your words.

Linda Coss said...

This is so sad.
Another thing to learn is that we need to teach our children (such as those old enough to go on outings like this) to double-check everything before they eat it. This 13-year-old undoubtedly assumed that because his parents had taken steps to inform the camp about his allergy, the food given to him had been safe. This story points out that the child needs to ask about every food item given to him. Or you need to send food from home, and not trust others to provide safe food.