Profile: elizwestley
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That’s a good point. It has been suggested by other participants that there be “peanut-free zones” on flights, just as there are non-smoking zones in restaurants, where the zones are to be maintained on the airplane at all times and are kept the same for every flight. Would this address the issue of residue, or would more be needed to keep passengers and flight attendants who handle peanuts out of the area?
This raises an interesting point that has been mentioned here by other commentators: even with prior notice, flight personnel often overlook those passengers with peanut allergies. Besides better training, what else could be done to make flight personnel more aware of the issue as they balance their other duties? Should notices of keeping “buffer zones” or “no peanut zones” free of peanuts be included in the routine safety announcements? Should personnel be required to check off a list of self-designated passengers with peanut allergies and make note of where they sit before in-flight service?
I don’t support banning guns or cigarettes either. Those are choices people make (to buy a gun or smoke) and that is what I support and what I propose…choice. If you think a ride is dangerous for your child you don’t let them ride it. Is it their “right” to be have the ride toned down for them or is it the right or every citizen to make a choice on what risk they accept and what they will not? This, like many other regulations is simply taking that choice and handing it over to the government and forcing their decision on everyone. Just because peanuts MAY kill someone doesn’t mean everyone else should have no choice in eating them.
Unless you choke on them, these things (peanuts) WILL NOT kill anyone. Go to a real doctor and get tested – he will tell you peanuts are harmless.
Why is this anyone else’s problem? Your child had an unpleasant reaction. NOT a dangerous one. This is not a life or death issue, it is only a matter of comfort. If a smear of peanut butter that got wiped on his face just caused hives, then there really isn’t anything to be afraid of is there?
elizwestly – Actually I read a lot about dying here but can anyone provide a single statistic of how many people have died from peanut allergies onboard an airplane? How about how many people die from peanut allergies in the US each year? I know that the “estimates” are that .6 to 1.5% of the US population may be allergic to peanuts. And I found the following in a story “In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control cited just 14 deaths due to anaphylaxis. The only known registry of deaths from anaphylaxis noted 33 deaths between 1994 and 1999. Remember, all of these estimates refer to the total number of people who had an anaphylactic reaction for any reason, not just from peanuts or other foods.” but I have yet to find anything I can pin down that says how many people… more »
To me it seems pretty obvious that people with peanut allergies do fly (as many here have stated they do) and yet as far as I can tell no one has died. So, why are we even discussing banning peanuts when they have not killed a single person on an airplane? « less
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My 9 year old peanut-allergic son had his last major exposure 2 years ago when he touched a smear of peanut butter left under a tabletop where someone else had touched. He then wiped his hand on his jeans and then touched his ear and his cheek. All without realizing it was peanut butter he’d touched. He immediately broke out in horrible hives and I gave him benadryl and got him home, stripped and bathed. All the while, I was watching for breathing problems and other signs of anaphylaxis. This is why I don’t support buffer zones alone. They don’t address peanuts stuck down in cushions, left in seatbacks or peanut product oils left, well, anywhere by earlier passengers/flights.
There’s no need to single out passengers if the ban is airline-wide. There should be written announcements when a ticket is purchased, when a passenger is checked in and a verbal announcement by the flight attendant during the safety spiel at the start of the flight.
I don’t feel it is a viable solution as a “peanut-free” flight could follow a “peanut-allowed” flight on the same plane. Leaving peanuts in cushions and peanut residue on everything from the prior flight.
This is a very good point and a lot of parallels can be drawn.
None of your examples can result in the death of another passenger.
In the examples you give, a person can call 911 and get to a hospital within the 30 minute time-frame that 2 EpiPen doses buy you. On a plane, especially one going overseas, that is not an option.
Very articulate, dadwith4.
I think the problem, as seen with JJM, is that some people don’t view peanuts in the same category as guns and cigarettes. These things kill. Just because they (peanuts) won’t kill YOU doesn’t make it your right to expose others to it. It’s a matter of education. We’ll get there. This dialogue is a good step.
A peanut-free table is less likely to have smears of peanut butter on/under it. Risk of exposure is reduced which is not as good as eliminated but is better than full exposure. I see the parallel with these flight proposals. Ban peanut products. Yes, people will “sneak” them. However, the risk will still be reduced over the nothing that we are doing now.
I’ve registered my son on a flight as peanut-allergic and had the attendant try to hand him a bag of peanuts. Flight personnel need more education on this.
ricport: I don’t see the supporters shirking responsibility. I see them saying that even when they do everything they can, it’s not enough to stay alive. Not when on a flight without hospital access. Please be specific in areas that you are seeing within this discussion that show lack of responsibility on behalf of supporters.
Eating peanuts is as much a “right” as packing a gun or smoking a cigarette.