& 
QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions (RQF)
Half a day, for workplaces and settings where somebody has a diagnosed anaphylaxis risk and medication may need to be administered. Recognising it, and acting before it is obvious.
About this course
Anaphylaxis is fast, and the people around the casualty are usually the ones who decide how it ends. The QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions is built for settings where somebody on site has a diagnosed risk and staff may need to administer their adrenaline auto injector.
The hard part is not the injection. It is recognising a reaction early, when it does not yet look like the textbook picture, and committing to act rather than waiting to be certain. The course spends its time there, then gets everybody practising with training auto injectors until the mechanics are automatic.
It covers the common triggers, the signs and symptoms across the body, the difference between a mild allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, positioning the casualty, administering the auto injector, the second dose, and what to tell the ambulance service.
Schools, nurseries, restaurants and food businesses, leisure centres, care settings and offices with a known allergy all book it. It is a half day that sits neatly alongside a workplace first aid qualification rather than replacing one.
- What anaphylaxis is, and how it differs from a mild allergic reaction
- The common triggers: foods, insect stings, medication and latex
- Signs and symptoms, including the early ones that are easy to talk yourself out of
- Assessing the casualty and positioning them correctly, which matters more than people expect
- Administering an adrenaline auto injector using a training device
- When to give a second dose, and the timing
- Calling for help and what the ambulance service needs to hear
- What to do while you wait, and monitoring for a second phase reaction
- Storage, expiry dates and the practicalities of keeping auto injectors on site
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions, valid for three years
- Staff who will act on a reaction rather than watch it develop
- A documented answer for parents, clients and insurers about who is trained
- Confidence with an auto injector before the day you need one
Who should attend?
Anyone working with a person who has been diagnosed with anaphylaxis and where medication may need to be administered: school and nursery staff, care and support workers, restaurant, catering and food retail staff, leisure and sports centre staff, and colleagues of an employee with a known severe allergy.
Entry requirements. None. It is a standalone half day and no previous first aid qualification is assumed, although it works well alongside one.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Choosing the right one
Which first aid course does your workplace actually need?
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not name a course. They tell an employer to carry out a first aid needs assessment and then provide what that assessment says is adequate, which is why two businesses next door to each other can land on different answers.
The rough shape is this. Lower hazard workplaces usually land on Emergency First Aid at Work, one day. Higher hazard workplaces, larger headcounts and anywhere with specific risks usually land on First Aid at Work, three days. Early years settings have their own rules through the Department for Education. Outdoor and remote work adds distance from the ambulance, which changes the answer again.
If you are not sure where you sit, ring us with what your people actually do and we will talk it through. Sending somebody on the wrong course costs more than the phone call.
Do the needs assessment first
Hazards, headcount, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from help. The HSE guidance is the starting point and it is short.
Match the course to the answer
EFAW for lower hazard, FAW for higher hazard, plus any specific qualification your setting or your insurer requires.
Plan the three years
Certificates last three years and the HSE recommends an annual refresher in between. Diary it when you book, not when it expires.
Course content
What you will cover
The qualification is structured around the management of health and safety and the practical application of risk assessment.
Recognising anaphylaxis
- What anaphylaxis is and what is happening in the body
- Common triggers: food, insect stings, medication, latex
- Signs and symptoms across the airway, breathing and circulation
- Distinguishing a mild allergic reaction from anaphylaxis
- Why early treatment changes the outcome
Responding
- Assessing the casualty and summoning help
- Positioning the casualty and why lying them flat matters
- Administering an adrenaline auto injector using a training device
- The second dose and when to give it
- Monitoring, and the possibility of a second phase reaction
- Handover to the ambulance service
- Storage, expiry and care of auto injectors on site
Method of assessment
How this qualification is assessed
Practical observation across the half day, with a short written assessment to close.
Practical observation
You will be observed recognising a reaction from a scenario, positioning the casualty, and administering a training adrenaline auto injector correctly.
Written assessment
A short multiple choice paper covering triggers, recognition and the response.
Certification
Issued by QNUK and valid for three years.
Ways to learn
How you can take this course
Every route covers the same accredited syllabus and the same support. Pick the one that fits how your people work.
Classroom
Tutor-led at one of our centres, with everything provided.
Ask us to open a classroom date →or ask MB nowDates and locations
Arrange this course
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. It is normally arranged around you.
Tell us roughly when you need it and how many people are going, and we will come back with dates and a price.
Also available
In-company training
We run this one to order, at your place or ours.
Onsite / in-company
Run Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions at your site
We deliver anywhere in the UK, on your dates and around your shift patterns. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head than sending everyone to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling.
Tell us roughly how many people and when, and we will come back with options and a price, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
What onsite includes
- The same tutor, materials and certification as our centres
- Your venue or one we arrange near you
- Dates and start times built around your operation
- One invoice and one point of contact for the whole group
- Content examples drawn from your own workplace
Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions FAQs
In an emergency, yes. Adrenaline auto injectors are among the medicines that anyone may administer to save a life, and schools in England may also hold spare devices under the relevant legislation. Training is what makes that permission useful. Your own policy should say who is expected to act and where the devices are kept.
No. First Aid at Work touches anaphylaxis as one topic among many. This qualification spends the whole session on it: recognition, positioning, the auto injector, the second dose and the aftercare. Settings with a known diagnosed risk usually want the depth.
Often yes. Anaphylaxis can happen when the first aider is not in the room, which is why most schools, nurseries and food businesses train the people who are actually around the person at risk rather than only the nominated first aiders.
Yes, and for a whole staff team it is usually the sensible option. Half a day at your premises with your own policy and your own device locations in front of you is more useful than a generic session elsewhere.
Three years. The HSE also recommends an annual refresher in between, which is a half day and keeps skills and confidence current rather than letting them fade for three years at a time.
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is normally cheaper per head than sending everybody to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling. We work around your shift patterns.
At our centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Manchester and Liverpool, at your own premises nationwide, and through our partner network where a local option suits you better. Pick a date from the board on this page or call 0330 124 2165.
QNUK, an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation. This one is QNUK Level 3 Award in Responding to Anaphylactic Reactions (RQF), accreditation number 603/2457/0. We are an approved QNUK centre.
From the blog
Course guides and news
The latest plain-English guides to choosing the right course, card or qualification.
Training for a team?
One contact for all your workforce training
Book this course for a group at your site or ours, roll it into a managed training plan and let us handle the scheduling, certificates and renewals.