How to Administer Epinephrine for Immunization Reactions

A needle and syringe should be part of your epinephrine kit.

Anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, is a rare but life-threatening complication that can occur after an immunization. A dose of epinephrine injected into the muscle should be administered for anaphylaxis. Signs of a reaction include a rash, swelling, fainting, hyperventilation and anxiety. After treatment a reaction may occur again within the following two to nine hours, so further medical oversight is recommended. Keep all vaccination patients for 30 minutes after the vaccine is administered to monitor them for any allergic reaction.

Things You'll Need

• Hand soap
• Alcohol swab
• A vial of epinephrine 1:1000 (make sure it hasn't expired)
• 1cc syringe and 5/8-inch needle

Instructions

1. Wash your hands and wipe the area that you will inject with an alcohol swab.

2. Remove the needle cap from the needle and insert it into the bottle of ephinephrine. Withdraw the equivalent of 0.1 mg per kilogram of body weight.

3. Insert the needle at a 90-degree angle to the skin in the arm that was not injected with vaccine.

4. Withdraw the plunger and check for blood in the syringe. You have hit a blood vessel if you see blood in the syringe. If this is the case remove the needle and try again. If you do not see blood, depress the plunger slowly until the syringe is empty.

5. Put pressure on the site and apply a bandage.

6. Call for an ambulance or other medical assistance and lay the patient down with his feet elevated. If necessary you may need to give oxygen until help arrives.

Tips & Warnings

• If necessary epinephrine can be given up to twice after the initial injection, at five-minute intervals.

• Benadryl can be given orally or intramuscularly to help the effectiveness of the epinephrine.

• Epinephrine may only last 10 minutes, so make sure further medical attention is available.

• Epinephrine auto-injectors are available. They are usually used by people with severe allergies to food or bee stings. However, if you use one after a vaccination you should inject it in the thigh muscle to ensure you don't hit a blood vessel.

References

• Public Health Agency of Canada: Vaccine Safety and Adverse Events Following Immunization
• Drugs.com: Epinephrine Injection
• Aurora Health Care: Intramuscular Injection (Self-Injection)

Resources

• Medicine.net: Epinephrine Auto-Injector