EpiPen may be a valuable addition to a family’s first aid kit

The arrival of a new year always is a good time to check out the family first aid kit to discard outdated items, replace what’s necessary and add items that weren’t needed until now.

But what are the pros and cons of adding to the family first aid kit an EpiPen to treat potentially deadly allergies to foods, insect stings and other substances?

EpiPens — one brand name for autoinjectable epinephrine — are used to treat anaphylaxis, a severe, systemic allergic reaction that can result in death within minutes. The easy-to-use devices deliver a premeasured dose of epinephrine, which helps to halt the allergic reaction and, if necessary, reopen the victim’s airway that the anaphylactic reaction has swollen shut.

EpiPens are available only by prescription and are prescribed for people who have been diagnosed with allergies. But given that they can be such lifesavers, Dr. Joseph Hardy, an associate professor at Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine, says he’d be happy to discuss EpiPens with families in which no family members have been diagnosed with an allergy.

The problem, he says, is that the first time someone knows he is allergic to an insect sting, a food or latex or some other allergen may be the first time he experiences anaphlylaxis.

“Realistically, we have people die of bee stings, and the very first time they know they’re allergic is (when) they get an anaphylactic reaction to it,” Hardy says.

Similarly, Hardy adds that he knows of situations when someone has eaten an allergen — peanuts, he notes, are “notorious” for causing anaphylaxis — in a dish that he hadn’t realized contained the ingredient.

Once symptoms of anaphylaxis occur, epinephrine should be administered immediately, Hardy says. If medical care is too far away, the value of using an Epipen would outweigh the usually negligible risk of using one.

So, if a family were to ask him about including autoinjectable epinephrine in their family medical arsenal just in case, “What I would say is, ‘OK, I think you have a rational, reasonable request,’ ” Hardy says.

Hardy adds that he’d also want to discuss with the patient what anaphylaxis is, what its symptoms are and how and when to use an epinephrine autoinjector. He’d point out that the devices do have a shelf life and that they must be replaced periodically, and that they’re not inexpensive. He’d stress that any use of an autoinjector must be followed by a trip to the hospital, even if the patient seems better, and he’d counsel patients on conditions that might be medically tricky for use of an EpiPen.

But, Hardy says, broaching the subject with a physician is “a reasonable thing to do.”