A Caithness woman is campaigning to make every school and nursery in Scotland have a policy to cover children who have potentially fatal food allergies.
Catrina Drummond claims the current provision to prevent an emergency and deal with it when it occurs is haphazard and that it needs to be regulated by law.
The 36-year-old mum-of-two is petitioning the Scottish Parliament to pass legislation to cover the care of pupils with anaphylaxis.
Mrs Drummond’s initiative follows her unnerving experience when her younger son Lewis suffered a severe reaction to milk that was in a cake he ate last summer.
She said yesterday: “He had eczema as a baby and was underweight and quite unwell. We eventually got to the bottom of what it was just before his first birthday when he had the reaction and we got an emergency appointment at Raigmore where he was found to have allergies to dairy products and nuts.”
Mrs Drummond was given an EpiPen which is used to give a set dose of epinephrine in an emergency.
She praised the response of staff at Lybster school when Lewis, now three, enrolled in the nursery.
She arranged to stage an allergy awareness course for both Lybster and Dunbeath primaries, thanks to support from a local wind farm community benefit fund.
She said: “It is so frightening to deal with a child suffering an extreme allergy reaction.
“Even as a parent, I find it difficult. The reaction may not be straight after eating something – it can be a few hours afterwards.
“But the big thing is prevention and that is why we need systems in place rolled out in schools and nurseries so staff are trained and know what to look out for.
“Currently teachers are basically left to their own devices and a pupil with anaphylaxis could move in at any time.”
Mrs Drummond, from Latheronwheel, fears another tragedy could happen without the presence of the clear national policy she is seeking.
Her petition is due to go before Holyrood’s public petitions committee on January 16.
An estimated 20 deaths from anaphylaxis are reported each year in the UK.
A study found that at least one on 40 pupils in the UK suffers from at least one serious allergy.
A Highland Council spokeswoman referred to the guidelines the local authority have on special diets and care of pupils with severe food allergies.
She added: “In addition to the special diet process, the council’s catering service has recently delivered food allergen specific training to all cooks and they are currently in the process developing an allergen policy in collaboration with care and learning colleagues.”