Scroll and click to learn more about allergy and anaphylaxis, our products and services, and UK government guidance.
Allergy & Anaphylaxis 101
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Allergy is a condition where the immune system overreacts to a normally harmless substance, such as pollen, dust mites, or food. When this happens, an immune response is produced which releases chemicals, such as histamine, causing inflammation and irritation in the body.
You can be allergic to anything, and develop an allergy to anything at any time in your life. Allergies are very common, and they can cause a wide range of symptoms.
Scientists believe that environmental factors, such as pollution and climate change, may be contributing to the increasing prevalence of allergies in recent years.
It’s important to note that allergies and intolerances are not the same thing. An intolerance is when your body simply lacks the enzyme required to break down a certain food, such as milk, which can lead to bloating, headaches, tiredness, and other unpleasant symptoms.
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Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction which can be life-threatening. It’s the result of the immune system, the body's natural defence system, overreacting to a trigger, such as food, medicine, or even exercise. Symptoms can develop suddenly and get worse very quickly.
Because the onset of anaphylaxis can be very fast, an adrenaline auto-injector should be used without delay as soon as anaphylaxis is suspected. This should be immediately followed by dialling 999 to summon emergency medical help.
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There are a number of possible signs of anaphylaxis. Any one of the following signs/symptoms is enough to warrant the immediate use of an adrenaline auto-injector:
Airway (A): swelling in the throat, tongue or upper airways (tightening of the throat, hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing)
Breathing (B): sudden onset wheezing, breathing difficulty, noisy breathing
Circulation (C): dizziness, feeling faint, sudden sleepiness, tiredness, confusion, pale clammy skin, loss of consciousness
Do not delay in administering an adrenaline auto-injector if you have any of the above signs or symptoms, even if you also have signs that you would normally associate with a milder reaction (such as an itchy throat or swelling of your lips).
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Adrenaline can be used to treat all severe allergic reactions.
First, you should confirm symptoms (ABC) - If someone is having a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) then they need to be treated fast:
1. Choose the appropriate adrenaline auto-injector to treat the patient:
300mcg adrenaline injectors are for treating most people over 6 years old (if they weigh MORE than 30kg/66lb/4.5st)
150mcg adrenaline injectors should only be used to treat small children (who weigh LESS than 30kg/66lb/4.5st)
2. Hold the injector in your dominant hand and pull the yellow safety cap off.
3. Lay the patient on their back with their legs elevated if possible.
4. Push the black tip of the injector into the patient’s outer thigh until you hear a click. Hold the injector in place for 10 seconds before removing it.
5. Lightly massage the injection area.
6. Dial 999 – say anaphylaxis (“ana-fill-axis”) – then wait for an ambulance to arrive.
7. If there is no improvement in the patient’s condition 5 minutes after the first injection, inject a second dose of adrenaline, using a new injector.
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When the ambulance arrives, tell the paramedic what medications you gave the patient.
You can also hand over any used auto-injectors for them to properly dispose of.
Report the anaphylaxis incident on your school Kitt login portal so that we know what happened and can replenish your used medications as soon as possible.
UK Government Guidance & Regulations
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Yes.
As a result of the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 schools and workplaces with an occupational health scheme have been permitted to buy AAI devices without a prescription.
In an emergency scenario, anyone can administer any adrenaline pen on anyone for the purpose of saving a life.
For more information on this (directly from the MHRA clarification document), please click here.
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Adrenaline pens are a prescription-only medicine, with specific exceptions needing to be in place for anyone who’s not a prescribed individual to purchase them.
In the Human Medicines Regulations 2017 Amendment, schools (registered primary & secondaries) were given an exemption, making it easy for them to buy spare adrenaline pens for emergency use.
For any sort of business to purchase spare adrenaline pens, the regulations state that an OHS (occupational health scheme) must be in place. This includes everything from theme parks, offices, hotels, restaurants, airports… and everything in between!
If you’re interested please get in touch.
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Yes.
Hesitation around using adrenaline pens is a huge problem. As leading allergy Professor Adam Fox says, “It's not harmful at all. It's a very, very safe drug. If you suspect that anything severe is happening - that's the time to get on and give it (adrenaline). And the great thing is, is that as well as being really safe, it's extremely effective. So even if it wasn't that bad a reaction, then you're still going to feel a lot better a lot quicker as a consequence of using it.” (Click here to watch our full interview).
Therefore, based on the current evidence, the benefit of using appropriate doses of intramuscular adrenaline far exceeds the risk in an allergic emergency.
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Yes.
As a result of the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 schools have been permitted to buy AAI devices without a prescription, for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis but their own device is not available or not working (e.g. because it is broken, or out-of-date).
For more information on this, click here.
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Yes.
Severe anaphylaxis is a time-critical situation: delays in administering adrenaline have been associated with fatal reactions. All AAI devices – including those prescribed to the pupil themselves, as well as any spare AAI(s) – must:
- Be accessible at all times, in a safe and suitably central location e.g. school office or staffroom.
- NOT be locked away in a cupboard or kept in an office where access is restricted.
AAIs should not be located more than 5 minutes away from where they may be needed. This is especially important to consider in larger schools, e.g. how far is the central dining area, to the playground?
Spare AAI devices in the emergency kit should be kept separate from any AAIs prescribed to pupils and clearly labelled as such. In general, AAIs should be kept at room temperature (in line with manufacturer’s guidelines), away from direct sunlight and extremes of temperature. They should not be stored in a refrigerator.
For more info on guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools, click here.
We designed Kitt specifically to store your school’s spare set of adrenaline auto-injectors safely in accessible locations. Click here to enquire with us today to find out more.
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Yes.
The Department of Health has stated that it is reasonable for ALL staff to:
- Be trained to recognise the signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction (understanding the rapidity with which anaphylaxis can progress to a life-threatening reaction, and that anaphylaxis may occur with or without prior mild symptoms such as skin rash);
- Be aware of how to access the AAI and appreciate the need to administer adrenaline without delay as soon as anaphylaxis occurs (before the patient might reach a state of collapse, after which it may be too late for the adrenaline to be effective);
- Be aware of the anaphylaxis policy and allergy register;
For more information on this (directly from the MHRA guidance), please click here.
We include a CPD-accredited online training course with every Anaphylaxis Kitt subscription, covering information on allergies and anaphylaxis including symptom recognition and treatment procedures, accessible to all staff.
Click here to enquire with us today to find out more.
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Yes & No.
It is up to individual organisation to decide when it is best to obtain consent for use of an AAI. The most appropriate time is probably when an individual healthcare plan is agreed. Consent should be updated annually or when there are any changes to the treatment plan.
Like adults, young people (aged 16 or 17) are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there's significant evidence to suggest otherwise. Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they're believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to appreciate what's involved in their treatment fully. Otherwise, someone with parental responsibility can consent for them.
If a pupil is experiencing anaphylaxis but does not have the required authorisation/consent for a spare adrenaline pen to be used (perhaps they weren’t even previously aware they had an allergy), a trained staff member who believes it to be a life-threatening scenario can act accordingly and use a spare adrenaline pen from the Kitt (Always call 999 in an emergency).
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Yes.
Schools have a legal duty to make arrangements for pupils with medical conditions (including those with food allergies) under the Children and Families Act 2014. This requirement is supported by the statutory guidance Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (linked here). All pupils with medical conditions – including food allergies – should have an Individual Healthcare Plan agreed between the parents and the school. This is particularly important where an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) has been prescribed for use in emergencies.
The Department of Health recommends that schools keep a register of pupils to whom the spare AAI(s) can be administered. Schools may find it helpful to keep this list in the Emergency Anaphylaxis kit, in which case it is vital to ensure the list is kept up-to-date.
The school’s policy should include a procedure for allowing a quick check of the Allergy register as part of initiating the emergency response (this should NEVER delay treatment!). This does not need to be undertaken by the designated member of staff, but the register should be easily accessible. Alternatively, allowing pupils to keep their AAI(s) with them allows for confirmation of consent without the need to check the register.
Our Anaphylaxis Kitt Service
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1) Make an enquiry through our contact form and book in a call to get a free video consultation and discuss pricing for our service.
2) For compliance purposes, our Kitts can only be purchased in the UK by registered schools and qualifying businesses with an occupational health policy available. Once we've qualified your organisation and chatted through your requirements, we’ll send through the relevant paperwork for signing.
3) We’ll send your Anaphylaxis Kitt(s) and adrenaline pens through the post, and you'll get access to our online CPD-accredited training course. We’ll send an invoice to be paid per Kitt per year, and resend adenaline pens before the old ones expire, or if they're ever used and reported to us. -
Our Anaphylaxis Kitts come with a guaranteed subscription supply of four adrenaline pens (2x 150mcg & 2x 300mcg to cater for all ages). In line with the latest BSACI guidance - Always having two of each AAI dose is essential as sometimes treating anaphylaxis requires multiple shots of adrenaline.
Our Kitts are designed with colour-coded slots for easy storage and access to the adrenaline pens, alongside clearly written instructions of dose, age and weight guidance, and graphics which walkthrough the full treatment process.
For more information on our Anaphylaxis Kitt service, click here.
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Our Anaphylaxis Kitts are designed to be wall mounted in accessible locations such as dining halls, front receptions and busy corridors.
It’s important that the Kitts locations are widely known - There can/may be multiple Kitts in some larger venues, such as secondary schools.
They’re not designed for outdoor environments or to be used for travel/trips, as this can lead to the medication inside spoiling due to temperature fluctuations.
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Every Kitt comes with four keys, as well as a breakable key box that should be wall-mounted near the Kitt for emergency access.
Access your nearest Kitt by pushing a key into the central ‘+’ and turning it to the left, then sliding the Kitt out of its’ wall mount. Lift the orange latch to open the Kitt and access the medication inside.
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We know that adrenaline pens can be quite hard to source, and that often they have very short shelf lives (expiry). That’s why we’re so excited that we can offer an all-in-one service, giving you guaranteed long shelf life expiry date adrenaline pens, automatically replenished before they expire, and easily stored in our accessible wall-mounted Kitts (rather than a locked cupboard somewhere in your school). We also replenish any pens that are used within a year at no extra cost if you report an incident on our Portal.
We also know that many schools face issues with training - whether that’s because it’s expensive in both time and money to organise and run, or because many staff don’t turn up/do it in the first place. And reorganising a training day for the whole school… no one wants to do that. That’s why we roll our CPD-accredited Anaphylaxis Kitt training course right into the subscription package, with 30 minutes of instantly accessible, easily digestible videos on allergy and anaphylaxis followed by quiz questions. Oh - and you can track who’s done it and who hasn’t on our Portal (and resend access whenever you like).
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Every Kitt subscription comes with our online CPD-Accredited Anaphylaxis Training course, available to be completed at any time by staff.
Created by us, for UK schools and qualifying businesses, this brand new online CPD-accredited course is included alongside an emergency supply of adrenaline pens with every Anaphylaxis Kitt subscription.
We're insanely proud to have built this in partnership with some of the top experts in the field:
Leading allergists Professor Adam Fox and Dr Helen Evans-Howells
Anaphylaxis UK’s Simon Williams and Tracey Dunn
Lifelong allergy advocate Thalina Houghton
In just 30 minutes, through a series of videos and quiz questions, you’ll get a comprehensive understanding of allergies. We cover how they affect everyday life in schools and workplaces and, most importantly, how to spot and respond to anaphylaxis—a life-threatening allergic reaction.
It’s quick, it’s impactful, and it’s something we believe every organization should have in place.
It only takes 30 minutes and has received an average review score of 9.5/10 by 8,000+ staff members so far.
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Our all-in-one subscription service means that we track and replace adrenaline pens in any Kitts you purchase before they go out of date each year.
You will have access to our online Kitt portal to review your medications manager, report incidents, and access training. If you an adrenaline pen in an incident and report it through the portal, once verified we’ll replace it at no extra cost.
Please note that expired or used pens should either be handed back to a pharmacy/emergency services, or disposed of in a sharps bin.
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We provide a trainer pen with every Anaphylaxis Kitt purchase.
Separately, you can directly order trainer pens for free from the producers. See our Resources page for more info.
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We provide our all-in-one Anaphylaxis Kitt service for schools at £650 (+VAT) per Kitt per year, on 5-year agreements.
This price includes everything:
Wall-mounted Kitts with four keys
2x 300mcg and 2x 150mcg adrenaline pens (automatically replenished)
Unlimited staff access to our online CPD-accredited training course.
Access to our online portal for Kitt check-up reminders, incident report forms, and medication management.
For workspace enquiries, please contact us to discuss.
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If you’ve got a child with allergies at school then we’d love to help you get Kitts installed there. We’ve had a few PTA’s and local groups fund Kitts too, which is an option.
We’ve put together a leaflet with info about our Anaphylaxis Kitts for schools for you to pass on/present to your school - click here to access it.
We also work with a lot of school academy trusts around the country and can come present a talk on Understand Allergies & Anaphylaxis At School - if you’re interested, get in touch with us by emailing team@kittmedical.com
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We've seen a few organisations, PTA groups, and individuals raise funding for Kitts in their local schools.
We recommend starting a page on crowdfunder to do this.
FYI: Multiple years' worth of funding needs to be secured as our Kitts come as an annual subscription contract to ensure the adrenaline pens (& training) are consistently supplied.
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Currently, our Kitts are designed to be installed on the wall, for use indoors, for schools and for qualifying businesses through occupational health (OH).
It cannot be purchased by individuals, outdoors organisations (scouts etc.), community centres, churches, or any other small organisations that cannot validate their OH.
Qualifying businesses with a valid Occupational Health Scheme (OHS) can purchase adrenaline pens for staff use with a written doctor’s order.
This is detailed in UK Legislation (Human Medicines Regulations)
To find out more about how this works, please get in touch through our enquiry form.
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Adrenaline pens that have been used or are past their expiry date should be disposed of in a sharps bin.
Collection can also be arranges through local councils, or with local pharmacies.
Got any other questions?
We’re here to help.
Feel free to get in touch with us by dropping an email to team@kittmedical.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
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