Talking Allergies

According to the International Civil Aviation Authority, it is recommended that epinephrine be included in the medical kit, that all cabin crew receive aviation medical and first aide training and anaphylaxis is amoungst the medical emergencies in the suggested Medical Cabin Crew Training Syllabus.
The talk about the airlines doing a risk assessment ands taking into account passenger numbers, demographics and previous medical incident records.
I think that it is very important that the Anaphylaxis Support Groups pressure the airlines to concider us in their demographics when compiling their risk assessment. Urging us to simply not use them as a carrier is skewing their statistics.
(see pages 18-25 of the link below)
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/assembl/a35/wp/wp122_en.pdf

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

When we flew to Jamaica with AC and our (at that time) contact allergic (dairy) egg, and mustard daughter - on our way home we declaired our selfs (as we always do) and made a point of asking for some cloths to clean the seat as we had been in the hosptial for a ANA reaction. the flight attened was great - got cloths, advised the head FA and the capt that we were on board, also told us that they have two full sized epipens on the flight and double cked with us, were our daughters medi alert bracelt was as well as our epipens (in case something happed to us). I was thrilled with the service from this womeon.

Taylor

_________________
Mladyfred

That's good to hear---it does indeed seem like they were very helpful.
I do wish, though, that they'd forgo serving nuts when nut allergic passengers are on board.

fear not, they don't care anymore when it comes to children's lives either..
I was recent;ly travelling with West Jet to and from edmonton with my twins and son who has a life-threatning sesame allergy and was faced with this exact situation.

I am the only one right now who has complained to Transport Canada. They are looking into a mediation process with West Jet. They stated they have had numerous cases with complaints re: Air Canada and anaphlyaxis... but none before mine with West Jet....

anyone interested in class action?? i mean afterall this is the lives of those we love the most..

West Jet has no procedures in place in case they cause a reaction as they hand out this snack to everyone on the flight while asking me a few extra times to make sure i don't want any...

i could continue but i think you might all be feeling the same as me right now...
I strongtly suggest contacting the Can Transport Agency.. this is beyond serious and I'm not stopping because West Jet won't listen and would rather provide for those other paying guests.. .

also if you want to be in contact with me re: the mediation or West Jet related... please feel free to send me a message

cheers

_________________
mama: asthma, seasonal allergies
dad: none
baby A: so far so good
baby B: anaphylaxis:sesame allergy, eczema
www.gaiababyfoods.com

What was West Jet serving that put your son at risk? My husband flies with them a lot, and he usually mentions if the snack was something I'm allergic to.

btw, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on this forum or not. Years ago I was flying to the east coast. When I booked my flight, I asked if they served peanuts as a snack. She said "not if a passenger advises they are allergic to them" . I told her to consider herself advised. She responded "pretzels it is". I asked if they were the ones with salt -- or sesame seeds, because sesame seeds are worse for me than peanuts. She said "it's a short flight -- no snack". When I boarded the flight, I had completely forgotten about all of that -- the hassle of flying alone with a baby, etc. After take-off, a stewardess announced that due to a passenger's allergy there will be no snack served on the flight. There was absolute silence. Suddenly, a man asks "what about beer? can we have a beer?" She said yes -- and everyone applauded. No upset. No argument.

_________________
self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

hey.. yes this was with West Jet.. and i went through every measure to ensure there would be awareness around my son's sensitivity.
Not only did we call and inform ahead of time but also pre-boarded and let them know etc... they stated their obligation was in providing a snack to others on the flight (even though it states right on the packaging that there are traces etc.. of sesame seeds)

i told them upon pre-boarding non of us wanted the snack and we would speak to people in the row beside us (who were very compliant) but we were still offered this little package of anaphylaxis-waiting-to-happen and told it wasn't really their concern, they were doing their job.

I think there is a responsibility to educating those in the service industry, who are dealing with allergies or potential anaphylaxis on a constant basis..
I think there should be mandatory standards that the first-aid kits should have oral antihistamines as well as epi-pens
& there should be procedures in place for the in-case of emergency..
there should be no way that they are allowed to put my child (or anyone) at risk of life through careless actions...

I just think there is such lacking awareness..
I don't think it's good enough to rely on my own epi-pen... what if it failed.. we are in the middle of the air.. not likely that an emergency landing will sufice in that situation..

sprry for the rant.. it's a really important topic though and i am interested in others who have experienced similar situations and are willing to speak with the Canadian Transportation Agency as well: it takes bringing these issues forward to make them heard and known.. if i am the only one i'm sure it seems as though this was an isolated incident.. and i guarantee there are others out there who have had similar experiences with West Jet or other carriers..

cheers

_________________
mama: asthma, seasonal allergies
dad: none
baby A: so far so good
baby B: anaphylaxis:sesame allergy, eczema
www.gaiababyfoods.com

Fish on an enclosed airplane does seem strange.

Is it really such a big deal for the airlines to stop serving nuts and peanuts and fish?

I was on a Porter flight to Toronto recently and almost passed out when the snack boxes were filled with almond granola bars. I moved to the front of the plan but felt like all I could smell was nuts.

How hard is it for them really?

I think it is a right to travel freely and their policies obstruct people from this.

My flight was in March/April, Air Canada to Maui when the FA said part of the in flight snack was cashews I nearly freaked!! (my most severe allergy). My concerns to the FA were mixed, one seemed to understand the other was very rude to me!! The head FA told me that if I were to have called the Airline they could make it a nut free flight, so we did just that, to no avail the customer service rep called us in Maui to tell us absolutely no they do not change their menu as "it would not be fair to the other passengers". So to get home I took double the reactine and saw a doctor in Maui for an extra epi. Yes I made it home, and that is great but some times I feel had I had a serious reaction it would be taken seriously.
In my endeavor to not let this go (it is not anaphylaxis or bust) I called the news Global Edmonton, the Medical Reporter said she would like to do the story. She was here last week I felt the interview went well. I gave her the name of a Dr. who made a comment in Allergic Living Magazine Pg.42 that sure led me to believe he thought opening pkgs of peanuts on an airplane was not a good thing. I know the reporter went to interview him I am not so confident the interview went how I would have liked. Though it has not aired yet (Friday June 6 Global Edmonton) I am starting to panic. I don't think we have the statistics to back us even though reactions do happen, they are not all anaphylactic so they don't seem to count, or they are not reported.
I know from my experience, people who don't deal with allergies seem to want to hear the severe gory details of a food reaction, and did you have to use your epi and go to the hospital?(and yes I have had quite a few) if you tell them it was not that severe this time or you emerged unscathed I feel they seem to think O.K. then what was the Big Deal!!
I just keep wondering if there was any more I could have said or is there anything else I should quickly e-mail to the reporter before the story airs tomorrow.
Any suggestions or comments ???
Sorry to babble I am sure you all know there I much more I could tell you about how this all transpired but I won't go into all the details.
Thanks in advance for any comments, and I hope It all goes our way in the report.
I Tried

_________________
Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies

WestJet have gone nut free... I think the rest of the carriers should do the same. Perhaps the reporter can contact the rep from WestJet to speak about their decision


Lorne MacKenzie lmackenzie@westjet.com

Even though it may or may not cause an ana. reaction, it still causes discomfort and fear.. Kind of like if someone had a giant cobra on the plane. It may not bite, but it is scary to sit beside it on the red eye!!!

Thank you so much TMcG for the West-jet information I passed this info along to the reporter. She did get in touch with West-jet and now I just await the story.
Thanks again

_________________
Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies

Paige, I am sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with Air Canada - it's odd that the service is so inconsistent!

We recently flew Air Canada to the Bahamas with my son who has multiple allergies including peanut and treenut. This was our first trip together as a family since my son's diagnosis. I called the airline ahead of time and while they couldn't request a nut-free flight, they said they would put a note in his file - the rep was really sympathetic as her own son has food allergies. When we arrived to check-in I told the gate attendant about my son's allergies and showed her his anaphylaxis plan. She immediately called the head flight attendant to come to speak to me. He was excellent; he took a copy of the plan to share with the rest of the crew and told me they would not sell the cashews for the flight and would also make an announcement requesting that all passengers refrain from consuming any nut products. They also allowed us to board before everyone else so that we could wipe down our seat area and thanked me for having prepared the anaphylaxis plan for them. He followed-up later during the flight to ask if we were doing well. We had the exact same treatment on the flight on the way home - with a different flight crew.

While the Air Canada policy isn't comforting, the flight crews we had for these flights were very accomodating. Perhaps it helped that we provided them with a printed copy of the anaphylaxis plan - maybe seeing that makes it seem a little more serious and flags a liability concern for them if they don't do everything in their power to ensure the safety of their passengers.

_________________
Son 7 yrs: Anaphylactic to eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts and allergic to soy, animals & environmental + Asthma.
Daughter 9 yrs: No allergies!
Me: Allergic to animals & environmental.
Hubby: Allergic to deer, horse flies & bees.

I am glad to hear you had no problems on your flights. I have been on Air Canada many of times and never had a problem as they have not served any tree nuts. On our flight it came as a surprise. I was very uncomfortable to even bring it to there attention, but I felt I had to say something, it was not like I ran to the back and started a big deal I just quietly started to tell one F.A. and another one quickly started up one side of me then the other telling me how they can't take care of everyone!! So when the Head F.A. told us that if we were to have let them know in advance they would have taken care of the situation, I felt that I had better be more prepared. (I do carry an epi. and I do wear a medic bracelet, It's not a fashion item so you would think they could take me seriously). I did wonder if I were a child if they would have acted any differently? Who knows.
Any ways I would like to see Air Canada change their policies to that of West-jet or be treated as you were when they are notified.
Good to hear they do not treat all passengers as they treated me.

_________________
Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies

We're traveling Air Canada in July with my son who has the allergies. What was the anaphylaxis plan that you had?

_________________
1 1/2 Year old Son. Anaphylatic: Peanuts, Tree nuts, eggs. Staying away from Shell fish

Hi Southnam
The head FA had told us of a flight being nut free(for a child), don't know if this is true but I would still try and call ahead of time and see what they will do for you. On the short flights we have been on they have only served the little snack pkg. that were nut free. It was on the long flights that were the problem. Just to let you know when I was on my return flight I took double the dose of Reactine and I had Three Twinject epis (one was going to expire in the next few weeks). Better safe than sorry, I was over the water no place to land.
Hope you have better luck than me. Traveling with an allergic child might make a difference.

_________________
Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies