Abstract
Background: The workshop at nursery and elementary schools on food allergy, preventive measures for mis-ingestion of the offending food and emergency care in case of anaphylaxis using Epipen® trainers must be important. Objective: To study the effect of workshops on food allergy and emergency care using Epipen® trainers for the staff of nursery and elementary schools. Methods: The questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the workshops, then the results were analyzed statistically. Results: Seven workshops were performed in Osaka and Hyogo prefecture since May to September 2013 for 552 staff consisting of 203 cooks (37%), 118 teachers in charge of health education (21%), 99 school teachers (18%), 60 dietitians (11%), 20 nursery teachers (4%), 43 others (8%) at nursery and elementary schools and 9 paramedics (2%). The rate of those who know how to inject Epipen®: nursery teachers 16 (80%), dietitians 45 (75%), paramedics 6 (67%), school teachers 56 (57%), teachers in charge of health education 64 (54%) and cooks 14 (7%). After the workshop on symptoms of food allergy, what to do in case of emergency, how to inject and when to inject Epipen® in emergency using Epipen® trainers, the rate of staff who understand well increased all with statistical significance. Conclusion: Workshops on emergency care using Epipen® trainers for the staff of nursery and elementary schools were significantly effective and should be repeated especially for the staff who could encounter the scene of emergency.
