This is the kind of thing I was referring to when I said I’d want something medically more sound than just “he’s allergic”.
You need to know what you’re dealing with.
Is it something that can be fixed with a simple barrier (as it was for me at 13) and the worst case is a bit of an itchy rash after a while. If that’s the case then it would be silly to rush off putting the lad in a GPJ or other unauthorised uniform, as GOM suggested, on a whim.
Is it something more serious (as has been described above that it sometimes can be)?
If it is then what the hell is the procedure? I’d certainly never heard of a wool allergy of that nature.
What happens if he comes into contact with someone else’s wool uniform?
Probably not. We’re all a bit more familiar with those so we are more likely to have an idea of what’s involved.
I’m sorry but as a parent if someone isn’t going to take my word in the case of an allergy/allergic reaction, they would be told where to get off. Parents don’t mention these things on a whim or just to be awkward, by the time their offspring reach us, they’ve probably been dealing with them for several years or just come across them. I ‘developed’ hayfever when I was about 15/16 and one of my nephews developed a nut allergy when they were 14, so things do happen as we get older and I imagine certain genes kick in. My nephew had eaten peanut butter since being a small child and now he just looks longingly at the jars.
I’ve got/had cadets with all manner of food based allergies, one that had to have special soap, such that their clothes had to be washed separately and not ro mention environmental allergies. All of which informed anecdotal from parents. I’m not going to query them or expect doctors report. The only time we need a doctor’s report is for flying/gliding if they flag with anything from ACTI 32.
I well remember cadets wearing pyjama trousers under battledress trousers, not an allergy given the whole thing was woollen just the trousers were a bit rough for their sensitive skin.
I’m sorry but the general inference from some quarters, is that the mum in this case is lying. This frankly is shocking.
I’m not sure that the implication is that the parent is “lying”, just not giving sufficient information to make an informed judgement on the matter. Is there a specific wool they are allergic to? Can it be mitigated? how severe is the reaction? Do they require medication?
Sample uniform items can be handed over for testing.
It’s nothing to do with lying, but everything to do making sure we have adequate information to correctly mitigate risk to ourselves and the young person concerned, exactly as incubus says above.
All we would be doing is asking for professional medical advice. Where’s the harm in that?
I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m certainly not implying that the mother is lying, nor would I necessarily be expecting a doctors report. I would just want something more in depth than “an allergy” to start with.
I’m allergic to tomatoes but it’s not particularly serious and I love them, so I eat them regularly with no ill effects bar a slight swelling of my lip occasionally.
I’m also allergic to codeine. If I accidentally take that I’ve got just a bit of a problem!
There’s a whole spectrum of allergic reactions.
If a parent came to me with the wool allergy problem I’d be considering two things:
What’s the H&S implications of this?
He’s going to have to be able to wear some suitable mode of uniform, so what’s the most appropriate way for it to be achieved?
Those are both impossible to consider even under ‘common sense’ without enquiring what the extent of this allergy is.
I think it would be foolish to not ask for clarification. If such enquiry is considered ‘questioning a parent’ well, tough. It needs to be asked.
[quote=“pEp” post=15235]It’s nothing to do with lying, but everything to do making sure we have adequate information to correctly mitigate risk to ourselves and the young person concerned, exactly as incubus says above.
All we would be doing is asking for professional medical advice. Where’s the harm in that?[/quote]
The harm in that? The mother feeling that what she has told you isn’t good enough and feels she is being called a liar.
Risk mitigation, “mum, what else do we need to know? How severe is it? How does it manifest itself? [answers] brilliant, thanks for that. I’ll add it to his record and make the staff aware. Any developments, can you keep us informed?”
[quote=“Plt Off Prune” post=15243][quote=“pEp” post=15235]It’s nothing to do with lying, but everything to do making sure we have adequate information to correctly mitigate risk to ourselves and the young person concerned, exactly as incubus says above.
All we would be doing is asking for professional medical advice. Where’s the harm in that?[/quote]
The harm in that? The mother feeling that what she has told you isn’t good enough and feels she is being called a liar. [/quote]
You don’t think she’d consider that we were taking the matter seriously and working together to find a good solution then? If we get scant information will need to seek more.
There have been times when a parent has wilfully neglected to inform us of serious medical or psychological matters which directly affect the safety of their child. Checking on the extent and severity of an “allergy” is trivial and there are many people who just lump any reaction as an “allergy” without any medical basis.
There is always the alternative response of denying the child form joining - if we cannot guarantee that they will be safe in our world of woollen garments then the risk is too great.
[quote=“Plt Off Prune” post=15243][quote=“pEp” post=15235]It’s nothing to do with lying, but everything to do making sure we have adequate information to correctly mitigate risk to ourselves and the young person concerned, exactly as incubus says above.
All we would be doing is asking for professional medical advice. Where’s the harm in that?[/quote]
The harm in that? The mother feeling that what she has told you isn’t good enough and feels she is being called a liar.
Risk mitigation, “mum, what else do we need to know? How severe is it? How does it manifest itself? [answers] brilliant, thanks for that. I’ll add it to his record and make the staff aware. Any developments, can you keep us informed?”[/quote]
Actually I consider this to be a reasonable step - we (most of us) are not medical experts, most parents are also not medical experts. So if someone presents with a condition which presents a great risk of exposure, it is sensible to seek advice (also presumably if they are likely to be exposed to their allergen, what medication if any do they have to counteract it, how severe is any reaction, what steps can we take to mitigate the risk etc).
Hopefully most members of this organisation would be able to have a sensible informed conversation to hightlight why this is a sensible course of action.
[quote=“Plt Off Prune” post=15243][quote=“pEp” post=15235]It’s nothing to do with lying, but everything to do making sure we have adequate information to correctly mitigate risk to ourselves and the young person concerned, exactly as incubus says above.
All we would be doing is asking for professional medical advice. Where’s the harm in that?[/quote]
The harm in that? The mother feeling that what she has told you isn’t good enough and feels she is being called a liar.
Risk mitigation, “mum, what else do we need to know? How severe is it? How does it manifest itself? [answers] brilliant, thanks for that. I’ll add it to his record and make the staff aware. Any developments, can you keep us informed?”[/quote]
What do you think the kid’s school have done? Accepted the word of the mother and moved on, or sought appropriate medical advice to help mitigate the risk to the child?
If this is a serious allergy, then 9/10 the parent would probably question why we DIDN’T want further advice! At the end of the day, all we’re trying to do is protect little Johnny, and most sane parents would see the same thing. They should be able to appreciate we aren’t Doctors, Nurses or other medical professions and a simple request like this would, IMO, actually help the parents trust us with their offspring.
Most of the time that we’ve had anyone join with even a hint of an uncommon medical condition, the parents have automatically presented us with a letter explaining on their own behalf.
I think people are blowing this out of proportion (apologies Plt Off Prune, I know it’s not just you but you’re bearing the brunt of this). All I was suggesting was asking for help!
How many allergic reaction to things do people here have and or know people that have them, that are purely annecdotal? That is they have never sought medical advice.
I developed hayfever when I was 15 (I remember all of a sudden getting the symptoms) and I duly record this on health forms. However what causes it, in terms of plants, is a mystery. I enjoy walking in open country, woods and an enthusiastic gardener and can go years without a reaction, yet turn up somewhere and bang, eyes and nose streaming and sneezing, go there again similar time of the year and nothing. As a child I was out all the time in the local countryside and never had any reaction. We had dens and camps filled with all manner of bits and bobs, including old carpets, rugs, cushions, mattresses etc, probably crawling with all sorts and nothing. You look back now and wonder how you never came down with something serious, but as kids you didn’t even give it a second thought. However in the last 36/37 years I have never been able to nail down what causes the reaction. My son can’t go near a rape field in flower, yet everything else is fine.
We’ve never been to the Dr’s and I imagine the advice would be take propietary antihistermines.
So if a parent pops up and says little John or Jane has an allergic reaction to x/y/z, unless it has resulted in anaphylaxsis it is highly unlikely they will have been to the hospital or doctor. Sometimes we have to take what parents say on face value and deal with it, even if it starts getting into the constantly tetchy area of uniform. If as an organisation and individuals we aren’t able to work around this and come up with a work around solution, regardless of who it upsets, without something official then we are in a pretty poor state. In this instance just be thankful the parents have said something and measures can be taken. There all manner of things that parents forget and bite you.
“Little Johnny suffers from a wool allergy and comes out in a red itchy and sore rash” give or take and seeing what the uniform is brought it to my attention.
I would definitely ask for more information. This doesn’t have to be done confrontationally - but I can bear out the claim that not all parents get these things properly checked out, as my mother told me for years I was allergic to wool and it turned out to be rubbish.
I’d:
a. Put him in DPM/MTP while you investigate.
b. Ask mother for a quick meeting before/after parade (or during if you want the cadet occupied elsewhere at the time).
c. Ask a bit more - when did this start? what symptoms? has he seen the doctor, and what did the doctor say? Have they any experience of wool blends like the jumper?
d. If it seems to be serious enough for him not to be able to wear no. 2 dress, speak to her about the implications (not allowed on Remembrance Sunday parade…) If she’s not taken him to the doctor yet, then this might be the spur to get it sorted.
After all, if the allergy is real but mild and he’s not otherwise taking antihistamines, this might be enough to make it possible for him to wear no. 2 for a couple of hours on formal parades and not miss out.
