Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether adrenaline auto-injectors are routinely carried by first responders.

Regulation 238 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 provides an exemption from certain requirements related to the administration of medicines and allows administration of adrenaline for the purpose of saving a life in an emergency. The provision under Regulation 238 should be reserved only for exceptional circumstances that could not have been foreseen.

In November 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Commission on Human Medicine’s Adrenaline Auto-injector Expert Working Group, with wide-ranging input from patient groups, leading allergy experts and healthcare professionals, published a report which outlined recommendations for the safe and effective use of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), including quicker treatment, to help save lives. MHRA has worked alongside the Department and wider health system to take forward these recommendations, some of which are already in place.

In June 2023, MHRA, with the support of allergy awareness advocates, launched a safety campaign to raise awareness of anaphylaxis and provide advice on the use of AAIs. MHRA produced a toolkit of resources for health and social care professionals to support the safe and effective use of AAIs. Alongside this, MHRA produced guidance, which states that prescribers should prescribe two AAIs to make sure patients always have the second dose and that those who are prescribed AAIs should carry two AAIs at all times.

Ambulance staff are trained in how to treat a range of conditions, including anaphylaxis. Treatment options may include a dose of adrenalin via a syringe or use of AAIs.

A public consultation would be needed before a decision can be made on the wider availability of AAIs in public places, including with first aid organisations, together with legislative change.

The Community First Responder (CFR) programme enables volunteers trained by the ambulance service to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work. CFRs have had first aid training but are not medically trained. CFRs are trained in the administration of a patient’s own AAI, which would ensure the correct medication and dose for that patient. In general, CFRs do not carry medication.