Latex Allergy

AJemt said:
plus what happens if you pull up on scene jump out to an MVA w/ unconscious pt and you already have your gloves on and pt has major latex issues?? just something to think about....
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That was my thoughts exactly behind putting a glove holder on my gear w/ only non-latex gloves
 
I don't know why services are still using latex gloves. Microflex's FreeForm are as thin and flexible as any good latex glove, and there are plenty of other good glove models out there.

I've got a minor sensitivity to latex. If the gloves are high protien, I get some contact rash on my wrists. If the gloves are powdered, and the powered gets airborne (like when taking off gloves) my eyes water, my face goes red, and my nose starts running. At that point, If exposure was for more than a few moments, I usually need to stop at a drugstore for oral benadryl to make the symptoms better.
 
Never encountered a patient that is allergic to latex, but I have a colleagues that is highly allergic to latex. His been taken to hospital on numerous occasions for rapid treatment.

He has even been given his own adrenalin/epipen to use in case of exposure.

We have not yet switched over completely to nitrile gloves, but only he uses it and the most of the crew know how to work around it.
 
Many hospitals now ban bringing in latex balloons to patients who are hospitalized. The reason is that people who are highly sensitive to latex can have a reaction after inhaling particles being shed by the latex balloons. That would presumably be why the dad had the reaction with the kid's balloon in the car...

Latex reactions can range from the moderately annoying to severe and life-threatening. People can react from inhalation, direct contact, contact with skin or other objects that have directly contacted latex, etc. The milder reactions involve red itchy skin that may or may not welt up, or mild upper airway irritation from inhaling particles. The severe reactions are every bit as bad as the "bee sting" anaphylaxis that we are all so familiar with...

As to the banana and kiwi fruit connections (never heard of the avocado link) apparently bananas, when digested, break down into components that include a latex-like protein. If your system is hyperreactive, then you will react. Maybe that's why I don't like bananas, lol!

I sensitized from wearing latex gloves... think it happened when I was still a First Responder, if I remember correctly. My skin gets very red and itchy, and I know *immediately* if I've touched something made of latex. I can't wear cheap elastic nametags... gotta be careful with car floor mats... rubber balls... tourniquets... household gloves... athletic equipment... bicycle handles...

It sucks. But it is livable! Once you do sensitize, be very careful to limit your exposure as much as possible, because it does get progressively worse. I'm more sensitive to it than when I first sensitized, and I've been pretty careful.

Wendy
CO EMT-B
 
I have a medic friend who is allergic to the Nitrile (to the point of anaphalatic shock) and has to wear latex or no gloves.
 
I am allergic to latex and whenever I work with someone new I have to male sure they know and I always carry a spare set of nitrile because a few of the hospitals and facilities here dont have latex free gloves readily available
 
One of the hospitals I work for, one of the top hospitals in the country according to their marketing dept, only has latex gloves, size medium, on the floors. If an employee has a confirmed latex allergy, central supply will send that employee their own box of non-latex gloves.

It's ridiculous that there is any latex used at all in healthcare. Unfortunately, nitrile costs a little more per box and the bean counters generally win (usually at the patient's expense).
 
Here in Argentina most ambulances and ERs use latex gloves. I don't know how much more expensive to manufacture are Netrile gloves (compared with Latex ones). But the main reason why Latex gloves are still widely used over here is not necessarilly due to their price but availability. It is really hard to find were to buy Nitrile gloves. -At the same time nobody really cares here about that rare situation of having a pt who is allergic to Latex.

I personally have never had a case but "why take the risk". Every season I spend in the US I buy a box or two of 100 Nitrile gloves (depending on the brand and supplier: $10-$14 which would be three times that in Pesos). Also all CPR masks, BVM and O2 related accesories I use are Latex free.

Of course when EMS personnel or an "off duty doctor" here see a lifeguard with Nitrile gloves they look at me funny.

Luckily it looks like there are not many people allergic to Latex but of course I refuse to rely on luck when I'm working.

Question: Can Epinephrine (Epi-pen or other similar products) help a pt suffering from a severe allergic reaction to Latex?

Thanks in advance for the info!


Guri
 
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It's good to be cautious.

As far as an epi-pen, define severe allergy. It is indicated in anaphylaxis. This involves changes in vital signs consitent with shock and/or airway compromise. Swelling and hives without signs of shock or airway problems do not usually constitute anaphylaxis.

Latex has been known to cause severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Some people are very sensitive to latex and don't even have to touch it to get a reaction.
 
Thanks!

I did not know Latex can cause an anaphylactic shock to those allergic to it.

(That was my idea of a severe allergic reaction -just that I wasn't sure if it could be called anaphylaxis. I used to only relate it with stings, bites and food allergies.)


Guri
 
Swelling and hives without signs of shock or airway problems do not usually constitute anaphylaxis.
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Key word being "usually." I have to carry an Epi-pen for my son's egg and milk allergies, and his allergist said that swelling of the face indicates that there is most likely swelling in the airway which would be anaphylaxis. Our rule of thumb is, hives get benadryl and swelling or benadryl not working means Epi-pen.

On the latex issue, I know a few kids who can't even be in the same room as anything with latex or they go into severe anaphylactic shock. Our class was instructed that all our equipment has to be latex-free and that all the ambulances here are latex-free.
 
aaahhh....another old thread dug up......
 
I have never personally met a pt who had an anaphylactoid reaction

to latex, or peanuts. I know one nurse who claims a latex allergy, but the only latex she avoids this way is gloves, is in contact with it through other items and vehemently denies that clothing elastic, drug vial plugs, or penrose drains are latex.

I'm being curmudgeonly, but with as many opportunities as there are for exposure to latex or other popularly touted "Allergens of Death", we ought to be seeing them dropping like flies around us. I recognize that it is possible, but my PERSONAL FEELING is that this is another media darling seized upon by folks as their diagnosis then, by a neurotic subfraction, used as a cudgel on the rest of us sometimes, like on airplanes.
"If my little Billy is exposed to so much as one molecule of peanut scent he will turn inside out, our doctor told us that....).
 
while i agree that some people take it way over the top and use it as their all access pass into special treatment, that isnt to say the condition doesnt exist.

i have personally worked anaphylactic reactions to peanuts. trust me, the patients werent looking for attention. getting oxygen was their main goal.

i personally am severly allergic to asa/nsaid's. i spent a few days in the picu at childrens boston some years back after they tubed me and have since been treated 2 other times for near death reactions.
 
Don't know what its like with ye,

But here alot of allergics are actualy irritations. I know of at least 2 people who have been told they are allergic to latex but have since found out that it was a vulcaniser or some such used in the manifature of the gloves.


This would present as a IRRITATION to the latex glove that is not present in nitrl
 
When I worked for the hospital in Materials Mgmt, we had a livid OR supervisor needing immediately to know the latex content of the list of items used in a recent surgery. Apparently a latex sensitive pt who's surgery used the 'latex free cart' coded in the middle of surgery. Apprently there was a gasket in some IV tubing that the fluid passed through. It was enough to cause the pt to code.

I have a latex sensitivity. it doesn't cause anaphylaxis but does make me break out in hives, generally localized to the area where the latex had come in contact. It is however a cumulative reaction and each exposure increases the severity of the reaction.

I've seen some pretty ugly reactions to latex including a hospital housekeeper who's hands were cracked and bleeding from the latex gloves. She had no idea what was causing it and assumed it was due to a cleaning solution rather than the gloves. Once switching to nitrile, the problem cleared up.

The worst reaction I ever had was due to a rubber band I had left around my wrist while working. At the end of the day my entire wrist was circled with hives, swollen and itchy. It's not made up, exaggerated or media hype. Feel free to assume it is until your first pt goes south on you because of it.
 
A co-worker of mine has developed a latex allergy after many years in the field. She had some coban wrap after surgery, and all of a sudden hives and itching wherever it touched. Now she has to make sure whatever supplies are around are latex free...coban, kerlix, etc. Sigh. I had no idea they had latex in them in the first place, but now when I restock my stuff, I make sure to get the latex free versions.
 
Im senstivie to latex and the powder in some of the nitrile gloves (yay me! just adding to the wierd allergy list I have). I learned of the laytex sensitivity when I was helping another crew transfer a pt in the ER. All of a sudden my hands started to itch like crazy I ripped the gloves off and tada hello hives. The purple powder-free nitrile gloves are the only ones that dont give me a reaction. When I was interning the paramedics always snagged me my own box of smalls from the hospital supply. Anyone know if oranges have any connection to laytex sensitivity?
 
Some of the nitriles are powdered. For the same reason latex are, to supposedly keep them from sticking, and thereby making them easier to get on when your hands are hot and sweaty.
 
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