Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening, generalised or systemic hypersensitivity reaction.
This is characterised by rapidly developing life-threatening airway and/or breathing and/or circulation problems usually associated with skin and mucosal changes. Early treatment with intramuscular adrenaline is the treatment of choice for patients having an anaphylactic reaction. The UK incidence of anaphylactic reactions is increasing. More recent UK primary care data concur, indicating a lifetime age-standardised prevalence of a recorded diagnosis of anaphylaxis of 75.5 per 100,000 in 2005. Calculations based on these data indicate that approximately 1 in 1,333 of the English population have experienced anaphylaxsis at some point in their lives.
Staff who regularly administer medications MUST complete the e-learning package on an annual basis, once completed you are required to send a copy of your certificate to the Resuscitation Department so this attendance can be registered.
Log into ESR and then either follow the above link or search anaphylaxis, Select the course titled ‘Recognising and managing Anaphylaxis’.
