Following the recent announcement by the Department for Education that schools must now stock Adrenaline Auto-Injectors such as EpiPen, and ensure teachers undertake training recognising and responding to Anaphylaxis: we thought we’d take a closer look at the new legislation and what schools need to do to meet these requirements.
Firstly, it’s important to understand the reason for this legislation and why proper safeguarding against anaphylaxis is so important.
It has only been since 2017, that schools were allowed to purchase spare adrenaline auto-injectors like an EpiPen and since then it’s thought that only 50 % of schools actually have them.
When we look at the bigger picture, it becomes clear why this legislation has been introduced. Many individuals who experience anaphylaxis will have their first reaction when they are in childhood. In some cases, this may be identified before a child reaches school, for example when they start trying a wider range of foods. However, an increasing number of children are reaching school age with relatively limited diets; this is before considering insect stings from bees and wasps; which children are statistically more likely to encounter than adults during outdoor play.
Exact survival rates for anaphylactic shock where there is not an Adrenaline Auto-Injector available are difficult to determine. This is largely because anaphylaxis can vary so much in severity, however in the most severe cases swelling within the airway can prevent breathing in as little as 5 minutes.
Although the vast majority of cases of anaphylactic shock aren’t fatal, its is thought that over 500,000 days of learning were lost last year due to allergy related illnesses or medical appointments; with some schools stating that 5 % of pupils have allergies of some description.
The new legislations will be mandatory as of September 2026. The drive for change has been spearheaded by the Benedict Blythe foundation, a campaign group set up in honour of 5-year Benedict Blythe who tragically lost his life due to being exposed to cow’s milk protein whilst at school.
The new statutory requirements state that schools must now stock ‘spare’ adrenaline auto-injectors, provide
allergy awareness training for all staff and have a comprehensive policy for supporting children with medical conditions.
We are yet to see the finer details of this new legislation, for example the number of auto-injectors schools will need to carry and the frequency/type of training that will be required. This is likely to be finalised in the coming months.
To echo the views of many campaign groups, this will be a huge leap forward in keeping children with allergies safe at school.
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