Andrew Desbarats
General Manager, ALK Canada
Making epinephrine more accessible in public spaces and easier to administer can protect the health and well-being of Canadians with severe allergic reactions.
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can be fatal, but it’s treatable. Timely epinephrine (adrenaline) is the standard treatment and is very effective, but in real-life situations its administration is often delayed. Possible fear of needles, lack of confidence, and uncertainty may cause hesitation.1 Sometimes, epinephrine simply isn’t on hand when an emergency happens.
According to a report from the 2026 Anaphylaxis Summit Ontario, approximately two per cent of Canadians are at risk of anaphylaxis, and awareness alone doesn’t ensure preparedness: roughly half of Canadians with a probable food allergy don’t have an epinephrine device. Some aren’t aware they have an allergy at all.
Severe allergic reactions can happen anywhere, and emergency preparedness shouldn’t be up to the individual. Having epinephrine available in public places like schools and workplaces — much like automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and naloxone kits are already available in many community settings — could save lives.
“We can prevent inadvertent deaths from anaphylaxis if we’re prepared with the right medication at the right time for people, whether they know they’re at risk of anaphylaxis or not,” says Andrew Desbarats, General Manager of ALK Canada.
The role of innovation in protecting Canadians
Fear of needles remains one of the reasons for delayed epinephrine administration, and delayed administration contributes to preventable hospitalizations and deaths.1,2 The Anaphylaxis Summit Ontario report highlighted how, in a recent study of 1,700 children, only 70 per cent of those with access to an epinephrine auto-injector used it when needed. This hesitation can be deadly.
We can prevent inadvertent deaths from anaphylaxis if we’re prepared with the right medication at the right time for people, whether they know they’re at risk of anaphylaxis or not.
An epinephrine nasal spray may help address that barrier, offering a new needle-free option. “Nasal epinephrine is a great example of another option for a condition that for a long time has had a treatment that’s been avoided by people because of the way it’s administered,” says Desbarats.
But new options only help if people can access them. Equitable access to treatment means promoting better awareness and education and addressing affordability.
Collaboration is critical. Desbarats outlines how governments, health plans, industry, and private insurers need to work together to ensure appropriate treatments are accessible and affordable.
Preparing communities to respond
Desbarats notes that schools often rely on children with known allergies bringing their own epinephrine devices to school, and that some children may experience their first anaphylactic reaction at school and therefore not have a device available. “We still don’t have legislation that schools should carry epinephrine on their own,” he says.
Community settings like hockey arenas and community centres share the same challenges. Desbarats views it as a shared public health responsibility for schools and other community spaces to have epinephrine treatments available.
Change is possible. In Alberta, a bill passed in 2019 established a comprehensive school-based allergy preparedness framework requiring stock epinephrine, trained staff, and written anaphylaxis plans in all Alberta schools. This resulted in a 700 per cent increase in completions of Food Allergy Canada’s Allergy Aware for Educators training program — and a 2026 study found that the policy increased pre-hospital epinephrine use for pediatric school anaphylaxis from 35.7 per cent to 64.5 per cent.3 The findings support the policy and the use of undesignated stock epinephrine in schools, shifting anaphylaxis readiness from solely an individual responsibility toward a shared one.
Epinephrine as community emergency infrastructure
Like AEDs and naloxone kits, having epinephrine readily available as part of public emergency infrastructure is a logical step.
“I think the great thing about Canada right now is that we have the infrastructure to do this fairly seamlessly,” says Desbarats. He suggests the idea of a public first aid station, expanding on the existence of AEDs and naloxone kits, with their existing signage and packaging. “We can really expand the types of conditions that we can treat publicly and really help patients who are at risk of some of these severe life-threatening issues,” he adds.
The Anaphylaxis Summit Ontario report supports the idea. It points to how survival rates improved when life-saving interventions like AEDs and naloxone were available when emergencies occurred, and outlines how epinephrine access can do the same for anaphylaxis cases.
Making epinephrine readily available in schools, childcare settings, recreation facilities, transportation hubs, workplaces, and other public venues is an essential part of community emergency readiness. Achieving that requires greater awareness and collaboration across governments, health systems, schools, workplaces, community organizations, and industry.
Visit foodallergycanada.ca to learn more.
This article was made possible with support from ALK Canada.