Food Allergy ID Card and Back-To-School Info Sheet

By Kelley Lindberg


I dropped my baby off at his first day of school today.

He’s in ninth grade.

He didn’t want the traditional picture in front of the school. He didn’t want the kiss goodbye. He didn’t want me anywhere near the school, him, his friends, or the planet.

The first day of school isn’t quite the big deal it was for him on his first day of kindergarten, somehow.

But he’s still my baby, and I got him to sit still for a photo in the front seat of the car, at least.

I also had to go into the school (although I used a different entrance, so he didn’t have to be seen with me, so that was marginally acceptable), because I had to drop off his medicine kit and medical action plan at the front office.

In his medicine kit, I include two epinephrine auto-injectors (EpiPens or Auvi-Qs), some antihistamine tablets, and a laminated card I made that has his photo, emergency instructions, and emergency contact information.

If you’d like to add a similar card to your child’s epinephrine kit, I’ve uploaded a template here: FoodAllergyFeast’s Food Allergy ID Card. You should be able to click on the photo, and it will load as a Word document. Then you can insert your own information. It’s two pages – if you print them back-to-back, the generic info about anaphylaxis should line up to print on the reverse side of the card. If not, just print both pages, use double-stick tape to line them up back-to-back, then have them laminated together at your local copy shop. If it doesn’t all line up right, feel free to use my template as an example, and create your own. (Many thanks to Michelle Fogg of UFAN for designing the original ID card.)

And here’s a sheet I create every year and give to my son’s teachers, the lunchroom manager to hang in the kitchen, and the front office (and if we had a school nurse, I’d give one to him/her, too): FoodAllergyFeast’sFood Allergy School Emergency Sheet.

If these links don't work, email me and I'll send them directly to you: kjplindberg (at) earthlink.net.

I hope your child’s back-to-school experience is full of hugs and laughter. (I plan to get my hugs later this evening, when no one is watching. He might not need them anymore, but I sure do!)