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LungHealthOnline

Donated Nebulizers Make School Day Easier for Kids with Asthma

Recently, Laurie Johns, CRT, a staff respiratory therapist at Community Health Network-Anderson, in Anderson, IN, was treating a child who had come into her emergency department with an acute exacerbation of asthma when she started talking with the boy’s mother. As it turns out, his asthma reeled out of control during the school day because his school did not have a nebulizer there to provide needed treatments. To Johns, the solution was simple: get the boy a nebulizer he could use at school.

Johns asked her manager, Gary Harris, BSM, RRT, whether the department might be able to help. “Gary said, why don’t we try and get nebulizers for all the schools in Madison County?” And that’s just what the department did.

“After the conversation with Laurie, I called our sister home care company and asked them if they would be interested in helping with the project,” says Harris. Then he contacted his hospital’s philanthropic arm, the Community Hospital Foundation, to see if it would provide the funds to purchase the machines. “The Foundation was very excited to help the community and the children of our community,” says the manager. From there he went back to the home care company — Community Home Health Services — which not only agreed to help with the logistics but also arranged for the department to purchase the nebulizers at a discounted price.

The result was a donation of 46 nebulizers — one for each public and private school in the community. But the project didn’t end there. Harris also sent respiratory therapists out to the schools to train school nurses on the use of the machines. “The school nurses were very receptive and appreciative of the training,” says Harris.

The respiratory therapy department has already heard back from several school nurses who said the donated nebulizers are being put to good use. “Without the nebulizers in the schools, it would be very hard for the children to receive their treatments,” says Harris. “If they had to bring theirs from home, there would be a chance of the machines getting broken or being left at the school. So the end result is that the children are able to receive their treatments when needed.”