Emergency kits of allergy drugs, sold through pharmacies, are prescribed to people who have at any time experienced life threatening reactions or who have a history of very severe symptoms. If you fall into either of those categories, you should own an allergy kit or an automatic injectable adrenaline kit.

One kit should be carried in your handbag, briefcase or auto, and another should be kept at home. If you begin to react and have any reason to feel you’re headed toward a severe, uncontrollable reaction, you should be prepared to take emergency action immediately.

Say you inadvertently eat nuts, to which you are extremely allergic, and you begin to feel very sick. Thee first order of business is to reverse all the alarming changes your body is going through. So every emergency kit contains a vial of adrenaline.

That’s synthetic form of epinephrine, the hormone that plays a key role in keeping all body systems running on an even keel. A single shot of adrenaline pushes blood pressure back to normal and reduces swelling (which keeps your airways open and helps you breathe). It's the quickest and most effective way to neutralize a severe reaction.

Adrenaline calls for medical directions; your physician should teach you how to give yourself an injection and supervise shot. The procedure is easy to learn, since adrenaline is simply injected into the fatty tissues under the skin, and not into a hard to pinpoint muscle, vein or artery.

The adrenaline in your emergency kit should be checked once a month to be sure the solution is not discolored or out of date, which would indicate a decrease in potency. The drug deteriorates in sunlight, so don't store the kit on the dashboard of your car or in front of a window.

Adrenaline is also available in an aerosol form, which you can inhale to restore normal breathing. Although not a substitute for injected adrenaline, the aerosol may help to relieve laryngeal edema or asthma more quickly. Test spray your aerosol adrenaline periodically to be sure that the valve opening is free of dust. If it's clogged, clean it with soapy water.

Kits are also usually equipped with antihistamine tablets to further counteract the flood of histamine that is to blame for much of an allergic reaction. Find out exactly how much antihistamine you should take, to save valuable time in an emergency. If you’re been prescribed asthma medication, be prepared to take that too.

As much as we advocate nondrug means for day to day control of allergies, you shouldn't hesitate to use whatever first aid measures are necessary in a life threatening situation. The possible side effects of a single dose of these drugs is a minor concern compared with the certain consequences of not taking them.

Tourniquets are also included in many allergy first aid kits. Applied near a sting, a tourniquet will slow the circulation and absorption of venom. The problem is that a tourniquet also stops the circulation of blood.

While routine use of tourniquets is discouraged by most doctors, many allergists say that if a highly sensitive person is stung by an insect, a tourniquet is justified – if it's applied immediately after the sting occurs and on an arm or a leg only. Even then, a tourniquet is merely a stopgap measure to block the spread of venom until a doctor can be reached.

If no tourniquet is available, you can make due with a strip of cloth, thick cord, belt, dog leash or other similar device. Tie the tourniquet two or four inches above the sting (toward the trunk of the body). Do not tie the tourniquet so tightly that circulation is cut off.

You should be able to slip your fingers under the band. And be sure to loosen the tourniquet every five minutes (American Medical Association Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care, Random House, 1980). It the sting was inflicted by an insect with a stinger, scrape the stinger out of the skin with your fingernail or a dull knife.

Do not grasp or try to pull the stinger out – that would only squeeze more venom into the wound. Place a cold pack or ice wrapped in cloth on the sting area to reduce total swelling. After taking these first aid steps, you should call an ambulance or have someone drive you to the nearest hospital emergency room.

There you will be given further medication and oxygen, if necessary, to bring the reaction under complete control. During any sever allergic reaction, you should lie down on your side or with your head to the side to avoid choking if you become sick to your stomach. Even if you don't fees nauseated, though, you’ll be more comfortable if you can stretch out.

Obviously, there’s always the possibility that you be able to take emergency action yourself. If you can’t breathe or you pass out, someone near you will have to take over. You spouse or other family member should be familiar as you are with the location and use of emergency medications.

If you aren’t breathing and no medication is on hand, the person with you should call for emergency aid and know how to give mouth to mouth resuscitation to open your airways. The name and phone number of your physician should be posted near every phone in your home, along with the number of your ambulance service and the location of the nearest hospital.

Anyone with serious allergies should also wear a bracelet or tag or carry a drug information card identifying items to which the individual is allergic. The information will save precious time and prevent medical personnel from mistakenly treating you for other causes of collapse, such as stroke or heart failure. The identification tags are available from Medic Alert Foundation International, P.O. Box 1009, Turlock, CA 95380.

There are those rare occasions, of course, when an individual react to an allergy shot received in a doctor’s office as part of routine therapy. For that reason, you doctor probably won’t send you merely on your way as soon as you’ve had your injection. No one should be let unattended for the first 30 minutes, at the very least, after having an allergy shot.

Some doctors, in fact, prefer to play it safe and keep you an hour. And any doctor giving allergy shots should be prepared to give adrenalin, open an airway and if necessary give oxygen to a person who unexpectedly reacts in the office. You shouldn’t hesitate to ask if your doctor has all the necessary medication and equipment on hand.

That’s especially true if your pediatrician, ear nose and throat doctor or family physician customarily gives you your allergy injections. A caring doctor isn't likely to take offense at your concern. After all, physicians want to avoid trouble just as much as you do.