If you have a personal adrenaline injector (such as an EpiPen or Anapen) and know how to use it, you should:
- Keep it close by while you are being treated in a health service, hospital, ambulance or clinic
- Tell your healthcare team that you have an adrenaline injector and arrange with them to keep it near you during your care
- Keep the adrenaline injector with your ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis in an unlocked location that you can easily reach.
If your child is admitted to hospital, their adrenaline injector can be kept at their bedside for you or staff to use if necessary.
Your healthcare team may want to confirm that you know how and when to use your adrenaline injector, and that it is safe to use.
If you believe you are having an allergic reaction and experience symptoms such as breathing difficulties, faintness, swelling of your tongue or tightness of your throat while in health care, lie down (or sit with your legs outstretched if breathing is difficult), use your adrenaline injector without delay and alert a staff member immediately.