If You (Or Your Kid) Carry an EPIPEN, You MUST Get the Veta Smart Case – Review

My youngest daughter has severe peanut allergies. And because of this, she has to always carry a pair of epinephrine injectors with her. In the past, she carried EPIPEN JR’s and then EPIPENs, but because of the recent price hikes, we have elected to switch to generic epinephrine injectors. Regardless, these injectors are life-saving should someone start having an anaphylactic reaction due to an allergy (e.g., food, bee sting, insect bite). It does not stop the reaction but does extend the time (by minutes) prior to emergency response to arrive and take over. EPIPENs and these injectors become a part of the daily life of someone with these allergies. And forgetting an EPIPEN or injector can actually be a fatal decision. Luckily, the Veta smart case by Aterica is there to help. And it got some pretty critical tech driving it. (*Disclosure below.)

Ever since my daughter was diagnosed with her allergies, she has carried her EPIPENs, or so we hope. The problem is, there is no guarantee that she remembered them when she left the house – we had to make sure she had them. But once she was away, we had even less control. While schools these days are pretty good about having a second set of epinephrine injectors actually at the school and know the procedures on how to quickly treat a child after an accidental exposure to an allergen, once the child leaves the school property, it is up to the child to remember their injectors and always carry them with them.

Our approach was to make our daughter feel special about her allergy. We had a bunch of pins and stickers made with her picture on them saying “I’m a peanut-free princess” or “Hi, my name is Sally, and I have a peanut allergy.” Her allergy became part of her personality and engrained into her daily life. When she was little and went Trick or Treating, she was VERY vocal about the type of candy she could get – “NO PEANUTS” and she would reject anything that she deemed as dangerous. This was great.

But all of this was a very manual process. It had to be taught. We had to continually remind her to carry her EPIPEN with her. We had to make sure that any house she went over to knew about her allergies. Any restaurant we went to (and go to now), we have to ask about the kitchen and cooking environments (e.g., “do you use peanut oil” or “are there any meals that have peanuts in them” or “how do you prevent cross-contamination”). 

As she has grown older (she’s in high school now), she is both more comfortable with her allergy, but at the same time, even more paranoid as when you are a teen, you have even more detractions. But now there is technology to help.

This is where the Veta Smart Case shines. Let me explain.

And while I encourage you to read this review, I have also created a video review that walks through what the Veta Smart Case does, how easy it is to set up, and what some of the alerts are.

What is the Veta Smart Case?

The Veta Smart Case is actually a combination of a physical case that carries a single EPIPEN or EPIPEN JR and the Veta App that maintains a connection to the case via a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone. These two items create a system that has a variety of benefits.

Once you set up and connect the Veta (which I will briefly go into later), the software helps you with a variety of critical tasks.

It can help you locate your Veta Case and ensure that it is on your person. This is done through the Bluetooth connection and the FindMe Locator.

This status is available in different parts of the app.

If you leave the house with your smartphone (the one that is paired with the Veta Smart Case), you will get all sorts of notifications on your smartphone and in email.

It is important to note, that while all of these alerts in email and within the app are available to the person who is actually carrying the Veta and EPIPEN, you can and should set up a Support Circle (e.g., family members, friends, teachers) who can be notified as well as see the status of the Veta Smart Cases. These Support members can see alerts like this Separation Alert.

Since it seems like all kids (and adults) have smartphones these days, it’s also easy for the person who has allergies and who carries the EPIPENs to carry the paired Veta Smart Case. Once you set up the pairing between the two (smartphone and Veta), it is pretty much impossible to leave with one item and not the other without lots of alerts and notifications going out.

While there are other alerts and notifications built into the case, there is the most important Alert of all of them, if the injector is removed from the Veta Smart Case.

When this happens, this means something scary and bad is potentially happening like exposure to an allergen.

And, appropriately, the reaction from the Veta Smart Case is dramatic. Physically on the case, there is a bright strobe light that starts blinking and a loud alert sound (that sounds like a smoke alarm). 

Within seconds of the Veta Smart Case starting the physical alert process, it also triggers the alert process on the paired smartphone. 

There is a countdown timer that starts. 

It’s brief but does give you enough time to actually cancel any notifications in case of accidental removal. 

But if the countdown continues, the Veta app assumes that this is an emergency and starts producing a loud alert from the phone as well as initiates contact with people within the Support Circle (via alerts, emails, etc.).

Anyone with the permissions (and obviously the Veta app installed) can get statuses.

This is the type of family tech that I believe is critical and crucial.

Setting Up the Veta Smart Case

The setup of the Veta Smart Case and app is extremely easy. I suggest you look at my video that shows who truly easy the process is. It takes literally just a few minutes. 

One thing that is important to note is that the Veta Smart Case currently only supports EPIPEN, EPIPEN JR, and the Mylan generic versions of the epinephrine injectors. Unfortunately, the generic version that my daughter carries (the Impax ADRENACLICK) isn’t yet supported. See what is supported here.

Briefly, you remove what Aterica calls the “smarts” and install the batteries. 

Then you open up the Veta app do three core things: create a profile, add a Smart Case, and build a Support Circle. (Just for this review, I only did the first two items). 

Each Veta Smart Case has a QR code on the bottom of each smart case. Using the app, you just scan that code to register and associate it with your smartphone.

Once it is connected, you just have two steps that you need to do (location and configuration).

As part of the setup process, you may need to update the firmware of the case.

Other configurations you will need to put in are the Expiration Date of the EPIPEN. These injectors do expire and have about a year’s shelf life. (They don’t just stop working, but their effectiveness is reduced.) Also, you need to enter in an acceptable temperature range for the case. For example, you don’t want the case sitting in your child’s backpack in the hot, hot sun or the freezing cold. That can also reduce the effectiveness of the injector.

Once you have the Veta Smart Case configured, you have access to all of the critical measurements within the apps. If it is in range:

If the EPIPEN is in the case (or not):

If the temperature is within the set range:

How the battery state of the smart case is:

And how many months are remaining for the EPIPEN.

After that, you will want to set up the Support Circles. As I mentioned, I didn’t do this process simply because I didn’t want to initiate a bunch of alerts during my testing process. But, I can assume that if the alert and status information is similar or the same as what the carrier experiences on their own smartphone, it is more than sufficient for the Support Circle.

Why the Veta Smart Case Matters

It should be pretty obvious why I think the Veta Smart Case is a critical item for any family that has someone who carries an EPIPEN. This could be an adult or child who carries the epinephrine injector, the functionality isn’t designed for one or the other. For a child who has allergies, I think this is almost a no-brainer for the parents. It provides a little more peace-of-mind. When it comes to anaphylactic shock due to an allergy, seconds and minutes matter. The sooner you can notify medical personnel, family members, or the authorities, the better. So any way that you can get ahead of that scary occurrence, the better.

I feel the Veta Smart Case fills that critical notification gap and helps keep all loved ones in the loop. And it allows the EPIPEN carrier to know they do have an extended support group at all times. (And that they don’t forget their EPIPENS.)

The Aterica Veta Smart Case comes in either a single or double pack:

• Veta Smart Case single pack – $99 MSRP & available on Amazon
• Veta Smart Case double pack – $169 MSRP & available on Amazon

Given that the double pack is only slightly more expensive than the single, logic dictates that you should get a double pack. Many people actually have to carry a pair of EPIPENs instead of a single one.

I’m hoping that cases for the generic versions of the epinephrine injectors are available soon as I think this is a great gadget to give me a tiny bit of comfort with my daughter. I will know that she has her case on her as well as if it ever removed for an emergency. Putting a price on that kind of knowledge is impossible.

Disclosure: I have a material connection because I received a sample of a product for consideration in preparing to review the product and write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item after my review period. All opinions within this article are my own and are typically not subject to editorial review from any 3rd party. Also, some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate” or “advertising” links. These may be automatically created or placed by me manually. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item (sometimes but not necessarily the product or service being reviewed), I will receive a small affiliate or advertising commission. More information can be found on my About page.

HTD says: Having life-threatening food or other allergies transforms how you & your loved ones live your lives. The Veta Smart Case allows your support circle to know if you have you EPIPEN and if it has been removed instantly.