About KidsAlert
 

My name is Tiffany Thojaya and I’m a mother of two beautiful girls. Unfortunately, my youngest daughter has anaphylaxis which  has caused many stresses, challenges and a few visits to the Emergency rooms at our local Hospital. I am a trained Primary and Secondary school teacher, and when my daughter was young I had to go back to work.  I was absolutely terrified that when she was at day care that someone would give her the wrong bottle or meal, as the only way they had to identify her was a picture on the wall, which is insufficient to say the least. I was also frightened that when there was a swap over or an emergency carer/teacher, they would forget that my daughter had anaphylaxis, which is potentially life-threatening and forget to point her out to the new staff member.  I found it almost impossible to work properly as I constantly fretted that someone would forget.

Parties and other gatherings that involved food, were also really stressful events and what I also quickly found out was that people don’t often fully understand how dangerous allergies can be and that even after being told, some people have still offered my daughter food without clearing it with me first. To my absolute horror, I also noticed that people quickly forgot – so I began the process of looking for something suitable on the market.

I really didn’t like what was on the market, there were pretty and fancy designed bracelets and plastic things that would fall off, and nothing that gave a Clear and Instant Alert message, nothing that was adjustable and made from soft material that would be comfortable for a child, but most importantly, it needed to give instant identification that she had Anaphylaxis, so that no-one would or could forget!

I spoke with my husband about this issue, and he was the one that actually suggested an alert wristband.  The alert message needed to be on the hand, as it is the hand that is looked at when food is passed out and it is also the hand that is looked at in an emergency by a paramedic.

It became very clear to me that from this idea, I needed to do something, as I believed I wasn’t the only parent out there that would need their child to be instantly identified and would want a constant reminder on them, especially when the child is away from the carer/parent. 

After many discussions with Paediatricians and hospital staff, I was able to design a wristband that fulfilled all of my criteria (clear, bright alert message that gives instant identification, using soft breathable material, that was durable, machine washable and affordable), and so KidsAlert was born.

KidsAlert has been also very popular with Day Care centres, Pre-Schools and many Primary schools who have integrated the KidsAlert wristbands into their Allergy Policy.  

We also believe that it is important to be prepared and practice for an emergency, as such so we are now stocking Epipen Trainers and kits from Anaphylaxis Australia.

As a trained teacher for over 10 years and someone who has had to deal with allergies and anaphylaxis on a daily basis for over 5 years, I have been asked by schools to help them create policies to prevent food related accidents.  If your school requires help in Allergy Education and creating Allergy/ Anaphylaxis Policies that work for your staff and school, please feel free to contact me on tiffany@kidsalert.com.au

KidsAlert  is stocked across Australia, in various Health Food shops, Pharmacies and through various Allergy aware outlets.  KidsAlert is also available online though our Shop online page. 

The KidsAlert Vision is to create a safer world for kids with
allergies and other sensitivities.

Food Allergy Alert Anaphylaxis Alert Asthma Alert Diabetes Alert Your Alert! A wristband that you can write on.