18-year-old Morgan Penny had a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction just before an A-level exam at Cotham School in Bristol, England, highlighting the vital need for accessible emergency medical supplies. Penny collapsed after eating a flapjack that, although it didn’t list nuts as an ingredient, had a “may contain nuts” warning. Since she hadn’t had a severe reaction since she was 18 months old, Penny initially “didn’t really know what was going on” as her breathing became difficult.
The prompt actions of school staff, especially Ed Carpenter, the deputy director of finance resources and a trained first aider, were crucial in saving her life. Carpenter quickly identified the signs of anaphylactic shock. Penny vividly described the frightening start of her reaction:
My mouth started to feel really tingly, my throat started to close up. I was starting to see dots, I felt very lightheaded and then I started to lose consciousness. It was just terrifying.
Thanks to an emergency Anaphylaxis Kit installed at the school, staff were able to administer an epinephrine injection. The response was “almost instant,” according to Penny, as her symptoms rapidly reversed. This incident underscores the effectiveness of such kits in emergency situations. The wall-mounted Kitt Medical kit at Cotham School contains four epinephrine pens in two doses, providing crucial resources in a crisis.
Cotham School was only the third school in the UK to install this particular kit, which is part of a broader initiative by Zak Marks, who himself has a severe nut allergy, to make life-saving allergy medication more accessible. These kits have since been rolled out to over 700 schools nationwide. This incident at Cotham School is believed to be the 16th time a Kitt Medical kit has been successfully used to save a life in the UK.
Despite the proven efficacy of these emergency kits, Penny expressed a significant concern: “It’s more scary that not everywhere has these adrenaline [epinephrine] pens.” Carpenter echoed this sentiment, stating, “I dread to think what situation we would be in if we didn’t have the kit available to us that day.” Their warnings highlight an urgent need for more widespread adoption of these life-saving emergency allergy kits in schools worldwide.
