Emergency care with EpiPen for severe allergic and asthmatic reactions is life saving, but many patients who carry them for emergency use forget how to use them after 3 months. Medscape reports on a study reporting at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology that most patients thought they knew how to use the EpiPen, but none of them knew of the need to rub the site after injection to cause absorption of the medication. Some even had a problem figuring out which side of the pen to use – and that was when not even experiencing an emergency. Continued education is necessary for people to use the device properly. Every day 9 people die from asthma attacks.
When people with severe allergies come in contact with the molecules they are sensitive to, a number of immediate reactions occur to the body that affect breathing and the cardiovascular system. Closure of the airway carrying oxygen to the lungs can occur such as by laryngeodema and bronchospasm. Severe allergic reactions cause changes in pulse rate and blood pressure. The result of any one or combination of these if severe enough is death.
Prompt recognition of life threatening allergy and asthma attacks and Emergency Care Physicians save many lives each day. Unfortunately, Emergency Room errors do occur and, when care is not rendered properly, the result can cause permanent neurological injury and even death. Britcher Leone & Roth understands the difficulties in determining whether errors actually occurred and works hard to answer those questions.