DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE ASTHMA

OR SEVERE ALLERGIES?

IF YES, READ ON……..

NEW RULES REGARDING SELF ADMINISTRATION

OF INHALER OR EPIPEN AT SCHOOL

As of October 15, 2005, Alaska State law requires school districts to allow students with asthma or severe allergic reactions to carry and administer their own inhaler or EpiPen on campus as long as the student’s parents and the physician (or health care provider) give permission. In addition, parents are required to sign a release of liability to the school district for adverse reactions from self-administration of emergency inhalers or EpiPens. Forms for medications at school are available through your school nurse or principal. This responsibility may not be appropriate for all children. Therefore the law requires that the health care provider certify the student has received instruction on administering the medication and has demonstrated the skill level necessary to use the medication. The law also requires all students with asthma or anaphylaxis to have an Asthma and/or Allergy/Anaphylaxis Action Plan on file in the school health office. An action plan is a tool to prevent asthma or anaphylaxis episodes as well as treat them. Please talk with your child’s health care provider about these important plans.

Under the law, a student who is permitted to self-administer medication under AS 14.30.141 shall be permitted to carry and to store with the school nurse or other designated school official, an inhaler or Epi-Pen, or both, at all times. This way, children will not be without an inhaler or EpiPen should they misplace their own. The law allows the school to take disciplinary action if a student misuses an inhaler or EpiPen in any way, including sharing it with anyone or sticking or spraying it at anyone as long as that disciplinary action does not limit or restrict the student’s immediate access to the student’s prescribed mediation.

Inquire about these forms at school or locate them on the Alaska Asthma Coalition web site www.akasthma.org.

For further information about asthma or allergies including how to obtain an Asthma or Allergy/Anaphylaxis Action Plan, please contact the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Alaska Chapter. www.aafaAlaska.com 1-800-651-4914 toll-free.

Asthma Action Plan
Anaphylaxis

For more information about the American Lung Association® of Alaska call 1-800-LUNG-USA. The American Lung Association® of Alaska is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Alaskans with asthma and other lung diseases, reducing tobacco addiction, and improving air quality in our state.

Asthma is a serious, potentially fatal chronic disease that can be controlled safely with proper management and treatment. Each year two million Americans are rushed to the emergency room and five thousand people die from asthma. Emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths have been proven to be avoidable through preventive asthma management.

Asthma symptoms include episodes of inflammation and narrowing of small airways in the lungs that can result in shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, chest pain or tightness, or any combination of these symptoms. It affects adults as well as children, and an asthma attack at any age can be fatal.

Exposure to allergens such as dust, dust mites, mold, pollen, and secondhand smoke can trigger an asthma episode. Cold weather, exercise, flu, and other respiratory infections can also cause exacerbations.

Asthma can be controlled. There are safe medications available and simple steps people can take to reduce their exposure to environmental asthma triggers.

The American Lung Association of Alaska, the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America - Alaska Chapter, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are encouraging Alaskans to learn about asthma, and to identify and reduce their exposures to environmental triggers in homes and schools. Alaskans experiencing shortness of breath, chronic cough, wheezing, chest pain or tightness are recommended to check with a healthcare provider about the possibility of asthma. How Can I Manage It? Educate yourself about asthma. Identify and then avoid your personal allergies and triggers. Work with your doctor to create an asthma management plan. Consistently take your maintenance medications. Enlist help and support. Have an emergency plan for severe attacks.

What Is An Asthma Attack?

In an asthma attack, your airways are triggered by any number of sources to inflame or swell, while the muscular bands around the airways constrict and mucous production increases. This combination of reactions results in breathlessness, inability to get enough air, coughing and wheezing. Each person's asthma eposodes are unique, just as their combination and sensitivity to triggers is unique. An attack may be miled and easily controlled or it could be serious and very frightening.

What's Asthma All About Movie

How Can I Manage My Asthma?

• Educate yourself about asthma.
• Indentify and avoid your allergies
  and triggers.
• Work with your doctor to create and
  asthma management plan.
• Consistently take your maintenance
  medication.
• Enlist help and support.
• Establish and emergency plan for
  severe attacks.

Types of Triggers

• Tobacco Smoke
• Cold Weather
• Wood Smoke
• Dust
• Pollen
• Mold & Mildew
• Exercise
• Animals
• Fragrances & Odors

Asthma Busters, an American Lung Association® program.