Union seeks allergy nurse for every school

Every school in Victoria needs a school nurse to cope with the rising number of anaphylactic children, the Victorian teacher's union has said.

The Australian Education Union state president, Mary Bluett, said teachers were anxious that they had insufficient training or time to cope with the numbers of children with allergies at dangerous levels.

Ms Bluett said most classrooms would have at least one child with a potentially dangerous allergy or other medical condition. Teachers were under pressure to administer medicines and life-saving adrenaline injections through EPIpens.

"Teachers . . . are slowly being given training in how to administer the EPIpen, but it is the most terrifying when a child has their first allergic reaction at school and nobody knew there was a problem beforehand," Ms Bluett said. "How is a teacher supposed to assess what the right course of action is?

"It is not just about allergies. Children are being sent to school with medicines, and teachers are expected to administer them. If they are sick or fall or are injured, teachers are asked to make a decision about whether they need an antihistamine, an EPIpen or a trip to the hospital."

Premier John Brumby last year announced a $1.3 million plan to train staff at every child-care centre and school to treat children with anaphylactic shock.