Parents warn of peanut allergy after death of daughter at Camp Sacramento

[alp227]

Parents of a Carmichael girl who believe their daughter died from a reaction to a treat that contained peanuts at Camp Sacramento are warning about the dangers of food allergies.

The girl, Natalie Giorgi, 13, was at the camp in the El Dorado National Forest along Highway 50 on Friday with her family. It was the final night of the family camp and the girl was in the lodge for a gathering.

Lights were dimmed and snacks were provided, including three kinds of Rice Krispies snacks. Augusta Brothers, a family friend, said that Natalie tasted one that was iced with a creamy spread.

"She immediately knew that it wasn't right, spit it out and went to tell her mom that something had peanuts on it," said Brothers, who was also at the camp.

Her mother sampled the treat, as did Brothers, who confirmed it tasted of peanuts. Natalie was monitored by her parents for 20 minutes and showed no symptoms. Then she vomited one time and had a shortness of breath.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/29/5605837/parents-warn-of-peanut-allergy.html

Well, my previous peanut thread went for 300+ replies. I'll see how many replies there are after I come back from the library.

And I think a HUGE fight is going to happen over the fact that the girl showed no symptoms of 20 minutes. I'll withhold any opinion on that, but I'm sure somebody will blame her parents. (The girl's father is a doctor.)

[Warpy]

1. 20 minutes is about how long it takes for a problem food

to start to be absorbed. 20 minutes is just about right. Inhaled peanut dust might provoke a quicker reaction.

I wonder why a 13 year old kid with a known peanut allergy didn't have an epi pen with her. It seems that more than one person dropped the ball here, since a dose of epinephrine would have allowed her to survive long enough to get to a hospital for the full range of treatment.

[surrealAmerican]

2. ... nor, apparently, did her parents ...

... who were there, and knew about the exposure. Why, if they knew the danger, we're they unprepared?

[virgogal]

4. + 1

[bunnies]

5. They had one. They just chose not to use it right away.

They "waited" for her to have symptoms

edit: clarity

[bunnies]

3. Theres a child in my family who is deathly allergic to more than a dozen foods...

Including super-common things like eggs and dairy, shellfish, nuts, etc. He's less than half her age and knows not to eat anything he isnt given. Especially things that are homemade by strangers.

Anyway, I saw him touch a chocolate peanut treat once and his mom gave him the shot immediately. She doesnt wait for the kid to have a reaction to something she knows can kill him.

Perhaps when her little boy goes to camp, all the other kids should have to be on his crazy restrictive diet as well? Is that the answer?

[alp227]

12. Can you trust kids not to share food with the allergic?

Sadly it seems your answer is yes to save one kid's life as inconvenient as it is.

[bunnies]

14. But he knows better.

He knows that if he eats the wrong food he could die. He would never take food without knowing. He'd have no problem at camp the same way he has no problem at cook-outs. And if a camp modified their food to fit his diet, believe me, no kid would want to go there and parents would complain.

We can't rid the world of everything people are allergic to. Its just not possible.

[Jenoch]

6. This girl apparently let her

guard down at the worst possible time. I used to know a family with a kid that was allergic to a lot of stuff, but the peanut allergy was the worst. He was taught never to eat anything his parents did not give to him. It was difficult when he was younger, but by the time he was in about the 6th grade he seemed to grasp how important it was. On birthdays when some kid would bring in a treat, he would have his own treat his mother approved. The school was supportive as well as I recall.

[elehhhhna]

7. IMO her physician father should have read something on

when to use epinephrine.

stat is the answer.

[Jenoch]

8. I wonder how many times

she had that kind of exposure before and how she reacted. It's easy to say now what should have been done. If they had the epi, I wonder if it can be administered too early?

My brother had a reaction to a wasp sting about ten years ago. He got short of breath, his lips tingled, and the back of his neck went numb. On Saturday he was again for the first time. We were out in the woods at the family cabin. I gave him a couple Benadryl, he called his wife who is a nurse and he waited it out. He did have Epi pens but did not use them. He was fine in a few ours and never did have the bad reaction like he did before.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Dad s a doc, and no epi pen in sight?

20 minutes is about right for absorption...by the way.

It's a tragedy...but a known severe allergy is almost an epi pen on you at ll times.

RiP little girl, your parents will have to ask the what if ...

[Boudica the Lyoness]

10. If people read the link before commenting

they would have read;

Her father then administered an EpiPen, an injection device used to deliver epinephrine, and gave her oxygen.
Brothers said Natalie then suffered anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest.
Her father, Dr. Louis Giorgi, valiantly fought to save her as she struggled to breathe, said a statement from the family.

[bunnies]

13. Yeah. He gave her the EpiPen after at least 20 minutes.

Did you miss the part where they decided to "wait and see"?

[Trillo]

11. Bring a peanut to camp, go directly to jail. NT