Attack on Asthma Ed Committee Revises Curriculum

The Attach on Asthma Nebraska (AOAN) education subcommittee met in Kearney on December 14 under the leadership Susan Puckett, RN, AOAN Board Member education committee chair, and Andrea Holke, AOAN Executive Director. The goal of the session was to review and update the educational guidelines to reflect progress implementing the emergency medication protocol for breathing emergencies, as required in Nebraska schools by Title 92, Chapter 59, Regulations for School Health and Safety.

Three key areas of discussion emerged during the session: local EMS (emergency medical services), confidentiality and privacy issues, and best practices in asthma management at school. Local EMS personnel may or may not be aware of the epinephrine-albuterol protocol in their area schools, and may or may not be equipped to administer epinephrine themselves. Julie Smithson, AOAN board member and EMS coordinator with NE Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for the South Central region of the state, clarified that the medical director for each ambulance entity determines whether the ambulance will carry epinephrine for administration. Training is available for EMS personnel approved by their medical directors. School nurses are encouraged to invite local EMS personnel to their inservice activities for school employees, and to be advocates in their communities for EMS capacity to administer epinephrine in the event of life-threatening anaphylaxis or asthma.

In order to assure that the information requested by AOAN on the Emergency Report Form is consistent with FERPA (the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) requirements for protection of educational information, Kathy Karsting, RN, School Health Program Manager at DHHS, will seek additional information and report back to the committee at the next meeting.

School personnel need to be educated about how to implement the emergency protocol correctly, but they also need to be aware of strategies that help their students with asthma or anaphylaxis avoid a life-threatening breathing emergency. Such strategies include: trigger identification and avoidance; correct recognition and treatment of early symptoms such as chronic cough and poor sleep; current medical management and access to controller medications in addition to rescue supplies. The group recommended including a separate section in the curriculum on “best practices in asthma management at school” to better identify these important preventive measures.

The education subcommittee meets again on January 4 in Kearney. Contact Susan Puckett at susan.puckett@kearneypublic.orgor Andrea Holke at andrea@attackonasthma.org for additional information or with suggestions for the educational curriculum.