Hi -

At my son's nursery school they have a BIG sheet of paper permanently
posted near the door with "RED ALERTS" written in very large letters at
the top.  On the sheet is written the name of each child with an allergy
or other condition, the triggers, and what to do if listed symptoms show
up.  Since one child in the class has an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts,
the sheet of paper also lists that and parents who provide snacks or
birthday cupcakes are warned that no nuts are permitted in the room AT
ALL.

The questionnaire we filled out at the beginning of the year asks after
allergies, along with other health conditions.  And the staff take them
seriously.

It seems to be a matterof staff training.  I think that if the nursery
school management hadn't already taken the matter so seriously I would have
offered to do a staff training session on severe allergies for them.  It
is, after all, an issues where training can make the difference.

If anyone is interested in locating or developing a training curriculum
on food allergies for those people who take care of our small children,
please let me know.

--Beth Kevles
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  http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic