New Allergy Poster Protection

To honour the efforts made during May's Food Allergy Awareness initiatives, Allergic Living created an educational poster to help in the fight for Anaphylaxis Awareness & Prevention.

It's efforts like this that makes living with food (or non-food) based allergies a little easier one day at a time.

You can download your own copy here but to summarize the poster for you, I've made a list of the Top Six that Saves Lives...


1 - Know the Symptoms
Signs of a serious food allergy reaction (otherwise known as anaphylaxis) are 2 or more of the following after eating a suspect food:

• Hives, itching and/or skin redness

• Swelling of the tongue, lips or throat

• Breathing difficulty, wheezing or coughing

• Stomach cramps or vomiting or diarrhea

• Feeling faint / drop in blood pressure (If only this 1 symptom, it is still anaphylaxis.)

2 - Use the auto-injector right away & Call 911
Epinephrine shots are given via the auto-injector to the outer thigh muscle. This is considered a very safe drug. Antihistamines are acceptable as secondary medication only. Just remember that they won’t halt anaphylaxis and you still need to see medical professional attention.

3 - Time is of the Essence
With anaphylaxis, prompt use of the shot is always essential before a reaction progresses too far. *See Tip #2 above :)

4 - Go to the Hospital
After taking an emergency epinephrine shot you must be taken to hospital for observation. *PLEASE see Tip #6 below :) During transport, IF symptoms have not improved within 10 to 15 minutes, a second auto-injection should be given.

5 - Reclining is Best
During the ambulance ride, the person having the serious reaction should be lying down, with the legs raised (this improves blood flow). NIAID guidelines recommend the patient receive oxygen and IV fluid.

6 - Don’t Go It Alone
No person should be expected to be fully responsible for self-administration of an epinephrine auto-injector. Assistance during anaphylaxis is crucial - always make sure the family and friends your with the most know how to handle any possible situation.

The Six that Saves allergy poster from Jessica Dunning