Seems like a lot of kids have severe allergies these days.

An Epi-Pen as a backup to any a child carries could make a big
difference. I have seen one fail before.

I don't see a decent shelter component in there. Every leader in the pack should have a basha/poncho/tarp on them. With fixing. Something happens, you need to get the kids out of the wind/sun/rain fast.

Seems to me that you have all the bases covered, good job. On the subject of Epi-pens, I was wondering how long you could keep one after the expiration date.

Unlike meds for something non-life threatening like, say, a headache, an Epi-pen could readily prevent a person's death. In such a risk/benefit equation, I personally wouldn't play around by knowingly carrying an expired Epi-pen although I know they're not cheap. I'm not saying that it's useless the day after the expiration date. The point is that there's no way for you or any of us to know how much or how fast the potency of any particular Epi-pen degrades once it's past the expiration.

Keep the expired Advil or canned goods if you'd like, but don't scrimp on the Epi-pen if you're going to go through the trouble of carrying one as potentially lifesaving measure.

Aren't Epi-pens prescription only? Does seem like an important thing with children. I've thought about it for my daughter.

HJ

My personal kit is a lot smaller, but with urban hikes I'm usually within a couple hundred yards of the road and taking it easy. I'm not guiding scouts.

*Pack - Small field (shoulder) bag. About ~6.5L capacity.
*Walking stick.
*Navigation kit - flashlight, baseplate compass, and map. No downsizing from the rural hikes kit.
*First aid - Sawyer extractor in the summer, nothing in cooler weather.
*Emergency - Storm whistle, full size lock-knife, lighter, flint, and tinder.
*Water bottle
*Depending on weather, location, and reason- Poncho, field guides with measuring tape and magnifying glass, notebook, sweater/jacket, and space blanket.

They require a prescription in the US, but I've heard that they are available without a prescription in Canada.

In Scouts anyway we expect Scouts with allergies to bring their own epipens, and let us know where they keep them. If stung, they use the epipen themselves: the only way for anyone else to apply the epipen is if they are unconscious. Its not a matter of training, although I suppose an inexperienced adult could screw up jabbing the Scout effectively; its a matter of liability too. And you're saving a life with an epipen, so follow with benadryl, get them off the trail and to medical assistance pronto.

I wouldn't bring an epipen as a just in case thing - in case a youngun experienced suddent unexpected anaphylaxis. A child is seizing on the ground, her throat is closing up - she isn't known to be allergic, do you really know what's going on, enough to justify the epipen injection? Without any history of allergic reactions, I'd do my best to interrupt the presumed histamine / antihistamine roller coaster with benadryl, and get medical assistance pronto.

Hmm, good points.

What I probably really need to do is to get my daughter tested for bee stings. So far, my wife has been oddly resistant. ???

HJ

Never give anything by mouth to someone who's having problems breathing or swallowing.

In general, if someone is having a severe allergic reaction, isn't carrying an Epipen and isn't wearing some kind of medical information device like MedicAlert or RoadID, keep them breathing and get them to the ER via the fastest method available.

I wouldn't even keep expired caned goods. Do you really want to risk your health over a can of corn?

Jeanette Isabelle