This year Anaphylaxis Week takes place from the 24th-31st May.
What is Anaphylaxis?
Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to a trigger such as an allergy, according to the NHS website. Reactions usually start immediately after exposure to the allergen but can flare up even 2 or 3 hours later. In the UK, it is estimated that around 21.3 million adults suffer from at least one allergy. In recent years, the number of hospital admissions due to anaphylaxis has increased exponentially. Anaphylaxis Awareness in Barnet is not greater than in any other part of the country.
What are the symptoms of Anaphylaxis?
A person suffering from anaphylaxis may experience light-headedness/feeling faint, difficulty breathing, high pulse rate, clammy or itchy skin/hives and may collapse or lose consciousness.
It can be quite scary and overwhelming to witness someone having an allergic reaction, but the more we know, the more we can do to help them.
What can we do to help?
People who suffer from severe allergies will often carry an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) – commonly known as an EpiPen. If you suspect someone is having a severe allergic reaction, you should administer it immediately. Here are some other practical pointers from the Anaphylaxis Campaign:
- Try to ensure that a person suffering an allergic reaction remains as still as possible.
- Preferably they should be lying down. If they are feeling weak, dizzy or appear pale and sweating their legs should be raised.
- When dialling 999, say that the person is suffering from anaphylaxis (anna-fill-axis).
- Give clear and precise directions to the emergency operator, including the postcode of your location.
- If adrenaline has been given, make a note of the time this was administered. A second dose can be given after five minutes if there has been no improvement.
- If the person’s condition deteriorates after making the initial 999 call, a second call to the emergency services should be made to ensure an ambulance has been dispatched.
- If you are in a restaurant or other building, send someone outside to direct the ambulance crew when they arrive.
- Try to ascertain what food or substance may have caused the reaction and ensure the ambulance crew knows this.
There are also a number of preventative measures that we can take. Make sure that you know the details of your family member/friend/colleague’s allergy and make sure not to come into contact with that food if you are going to be seeing them. It is also good practice to wash your hands after touching something that might trigger someone’s allergy.
Our products
Our products are packed in an environment that handle most kinds of nuts (including peanuts) and sesame. We would advise our customers to be cautious about checking the ingredients list carefully and serving our products to their guests or sending them as gifts using their discretion. Allergens are clearly labelled on our packaging and we adhere to all guidelines from the SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) and trading standards in making sure that we adhere to all food safety laws and protect the health of our consumers. For further details, please feel free to email us at nick@walnut.gifts or give us a call on 020 8236 0648. Anaphylaxis Awareness in Barnet or wherever you live is vital to help save lives.
We can dispatch our gifts trays of marron glace, dried fruit, chocolate to anywhere in the united kingdom. Our most local areas are..
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