NVQlevel 2

TDA 2.14 Support children and young people at meal and snack times
2.3 Describe how to recognise and deal with allergic reactions to food
Answers
Allergic reaction happen when the body's immune system reacts to contact with normally harmless substances. This can happen after touching, tasting, eating or breathing in a particular substance. Most common food causing allergic reaction are nuts( especially peanuts), fish( shell fish), eggs and milk. This can occur immediately after swallowing the substance but some can occur after few hours. most common allergic reactions are :
_ Tingling itching or burning sensation in the mouth
_Intense itching
_Selling, particularly of the face
_Feeling hot or very chilled
_Feeling scared
_Abdominal pain
_ Vomiting
Sometime, children can develop sever symptoms such as:
* Difficulty in breathing due to swelling inside the throat and airway.
* If the reaction is more serious the child can faint, the lips may become blue or he may collapse due to a drop in blood pressure.
To deal with any allergic reaction in the setting, we need to:
_ Inform the others members of staff we are working with and what to do to minimize the risk.
_ Ensure we have the list of all the children who are allergic to food in all the classroom and the substance they are allergic to.
_ Make sure we read the food labels and check if there s any substance from the ingredients that can cause allergic reaction to the children.
_ Let the children be aware of their allergy and encourage them to try and avoid it.
_ Make sure all food brought into school are not made from nut.
In front of the child manifesting an allergic reaction, it is very important to stay with the child as it's necessary to monitor the reaction to make sure it's getting better or worse. Some allergic reactions can develop into a more serious stage in few hours. In case the reaction become serious the most recommended treatment is the injection of adrenaline call Epipen. Before applying this treatment, we have to get an authorisation from the parents as the child start coming in the setting and two children are not allow to share one Epipen.
After applying the Epipen, the child still need medical attention even if the reaction is getter better. So it's very important to call an ambulance after the injection.