After emergency treatment

Information for the public

After emergency treatment, you (or your child) should be offered a referral to a specialist allergy service. Where possible, this should be an age-appropriate specialist allergy service. The allergy service should be made up of healthcare professionals who can investigate, diagnose, monitor and manage suspected anaphylaxis, and provide information and education about it.

Immediately following on from the emergency treatment and before you are sent home, you should be offered a special device for injecting adrenaline (called an adrenaline injector) for emergency use in case you (or your child) have another reaction before the specialist allergy service appointment. You should be given a prescription for 2 of these, so you always have a backup, and you should be told to carry them with you at all times.

Before you leave the hospital you should also be offered information about anaphylaxis (including the signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction), how to tell if you (or your child) might be having an anaphylactic reaction and what to do if an anaphylactic reaction occurs (use the adrenaline injector and call an ambulance). You should also be shown how to use the adrenaline injector correctly, and be advised about when to use it. You should also be given advice about how to avoid the suspected trigger (if known).

You should also be offered information about:

the small risk of a biphasic reaction, which is when the symptoms of an allergic reaction go away but come back some hours later
why a referral to a specialist allergy service is needed and information about the referral process
patient support groups.

Questions that you might like to ask

Can you tell me more about the referral?
Please give me more details about the further tests that might be needed.
How soon can these further tests be done and how long will it take to get the results?
What happens if the tests are negative?
Please tell me more about adrenaline injectors.