Epipens and the heat

I have had this issue too. Normally we kept an ice pack in with the epis (in a backpack) and wrapped it all up in a towel. The problem is, the ice pack makes the epis TOO cold so we have to check them every 15 min or so and rearrange everything. After reading a thread in another of the forums here I bought a frio wallet. You soak it in water, and there are crystals inside that soak up the water. You put your epis inside and it keeps them at a good temperature. The catch is that you have to have plenty of air circulation around it because it works by evaporation. It worked fine in my purse yesterday but I kept on making sure my purse was open and turning the wallet around over and over. It wasn't all that hot out so it may not have been an accurate test for it. It kept it around 70 the whole time. I got the extra large size so that we could fit extra epis or whatever inside if we needed to. I kind of wish I'd gotten a smaller one too but I wasn't sure if the epis would fit in their holders inside the smaller wallet. I might get a mesh type purse for dd so she can wear it since we usually carry a backpack that is nylon (thus not much air circulation in it) when we go places like that.

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[b]~Gale~[/b]

I live in the south US (NC) and just got back from a disney trip. What we do is keep the pens and meds in an insulated lunch bag with a temperature strip then place this bag in an another bag with a few cold canned drinks around it- as the drinks warm up I move them closer in contact with the epipen bag. This way the temps never got below the 59 or above the 86. But, it was very hot so frequent inside breaks spacing out the cooler activities was good. We have a younger child so I also kept the bag in the stroller below her seat to give it some shade. That has worked well for us, even at the beach.

Thanks...

Think I might try the Frio Wallet. Does it come with a themometer or did you attatch one to it?

I put a thermometer in it. I have the type that goes in a fishtank but it is glass so you need to be cautious with that. It's an alcohol type, not mercury, so if it broke there's not the mercury danger. You could also get a small room type thermometer to fit in there-I had one of them before but it did break eventually. I just happened to have a new fishtank thermometer on hand.

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[b]~Gale~[/b]

I keep a backpack/daypack when we travel instead of a purse. Disney will let them in, they just want to inspect them. No hassles, and everyone that has searched me has been very familiar with Epi-pens and Benadryl.

The backpack is handy for carrying snack crackers, a water bottle, our camera and any little items we might purchase. I keep my wallet in the very bottom to avoid pickpockets (not a big problem at Disney). [i]The water bottle can help keep the Epi cool.[/i]

If it is very hot, I will keep a baby bottle pouch (similar to an insulated lunchbag, but smaller) inside the backpack with a cool water bottle. I wrap my Epi's in a handtowel from the hotel and put in the pouch. But this is often unnecessary. Even in the mid-90's, my wallet is usually pretty cool at the bottom of the backpack.

Take care,
Daisy

We use a gel pack. They're generally not as cold as the hard packs. The cases the pens come in insulate some as well.

I wanted to add, if you decide on the frio wallet. The one I have says frio UK so apparently they are made in the UK? So you might be able to find them locally there. Personally the water bottles and cold packs haven't been the best choice for us so we are using this.

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[b]~Gale~[/b]

I'm new to all of this... but I was told in the ER that heat isn't an issue for the epi pen. They recommended keeping pens in our glove compartments in our cars. Were they wrong?

never keep your eppi in your car. the heat will ruin the eppi pen! if you read the side of the pen it says to store it in a temp between 59 to 86 degrees.
i just dont understand why someone at an emergency room would tell you that. it is amazing to me sometimes that people who are suposed to be trained medical personell will give out bad advice like that!
good thing you asked! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
erin

we went to disney last august and just kept the pen in our backpack with some water bottles in there to. didnt have anyproblems. of coarse we did avoid the hottest times of the day at the park, we went in the morning until noon went back to the hotel had lunch and went swimming and around 4 or 5 we went back to the park.
are you staying on the grounds at disney?
erin

Yes, we are staying at one of the Disney resort hotels. Is that a good thing?!?

We keep our epi-pens in small thermos bottles - works great to protect against both heat and cold.

yes staying at a resort hotel is a very great thing. you can catch a bus to your hotel when ever you want and chill out and go back later. plus the people at the customer service desk at all the hotels will call around and find out about the safe food for you. when we went last year our son still had his dairy allergy and the lady at cs. called all the icecream places to find out if they had any soy icecream and if it had traces of peanuts. it took her a good 20 miniuts. and she did it with a smile. saying she understood how much it would mean for my son to have some icecream and she didnt mind at all.
all of the disney staff will bend over backwards to help you find out about safe food. they are great!

have fun!
erin

Slightly off topic: In our experience, Disney has been really great when it comes to helping keep kids with food allergies safe. At more then one restaurant, the wait staff asked if there were any food allergies at the time the orders were taken. And then had the chef come out to discuss any issues/concerns. One chef gave us some good advice about what the safer foods at kiosks were.

at one buffett (cant remember the name) we had a chef come out and walk us thru the line to tell us what had dairy and peanuts or may contain in it. it was great.
disney is realy alergy friendly.
have a good time
erin

Thank you all so much for your advice. Got my Frio wallet in the post today - what a clever invention.

We are all soooo excited about the trip. I think this will be one of the only holiday destinations in which we will be able to 'relax' with DD. It's just a shame it's such a long way and so expensive for us!!!

Raising for Ethan Mom.

We SWEAR by our FRIO wallets, a large holds 2 epis, the samll hold one. These things changed our LIVES. I've ranted about these before....I still can't believe everyone hasn't been converted. THE BEST PRODUCT FOR OUR COMMUNITY PERIOD!

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bumping for nustblow...
erin