Latex allergy

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

I am putting this out to you and also the occupational health nursing area because I need your help. I work in a Vo-Tech school and we have a new student coming in with severe latex allergy. The nursing department I can handle, but we have many different shops with different chemicals, supplies, and equipment. In addition to the shop where this student will be we have autobody, auto mechanics, welding, HVAC, etc. All these shops produce airborne contamination which could include latex particles. It is a big undertaking to try and remove known sources of latex from this kid's immediate environment, but what about airborne particles? Has anyone dealt with this before? Advice?

[bergren]

You say severe, so I assume the student has had an anapylactic reaction. So you will need to collect a thorough assessment.

There are 2 issues:

1. You will likely need a Section 504 plan that provides accomodations for students with disabilities to have the same education that is available to all students. This would include the school's responsibilities to reduce the chances of exposure to latex, cleaning, providng alternate materials, etc.

2. A care plan and an emergency plan should the student experience anaphylaxsis.

To do both of the above, you will need to speak to the physician or primary care proivider and in the course of that conversation, you should describe the environment and the materials in the environment. It is possible that the provider may recommend to the student that they pursue another specialty.

If not, you need to make sure you are doing all that is reasonable and be prepared to provide emergency care. You might want to involve the school's attorney if you feel it will be impossible to rid the enviroment of all latex due to the nature of the work and see if the attorney thinks a waiver is in order, ie, the student acknowledges that risk of exposure cannot be reduced to zero and that the student chooses to pursue this education anyway.

Good luck!!