NOT ONE school in Limerick has taken up a scheme to avail of emergency asthma medication, despite the fact that nearly 8,000 pupils suffer from the potentially fatal condition.
And the Asthma Society has warned that every school should have an asthma inhaler in their first aid kit in case of emergency.
With 7,725 school-going children in Limerick having asthma, the Society says that not a single school in Limerick has received an emergency asthma inhaler as part of the then Health Minister Leo Varadkar’s scheme put in place two years ago.
“Having immediate access to emergency medication can be the difference between life and death,” said Averil Power, Asthma Society CEO, adding “The previous Minister for Health recognised this when he introduced a new scheme allowing schools and other community facilities to obtain inhalers without a prescription for their first aid kits in case students forget theirs.”
With almost 17 per cent of children of school-going age living with the lung disease, Averil Power says it is “inevitable that many schools will have to deal with a student having an asthma attack at some point”.
Highlighting the issue, the Asthma Society CEO pointed to tragic examples in Britain which saw several children die from fatal asthma attacks in British schools in recent years. “It is essential we do everything we can to avoid a similar tragedy here,” she said.
While Ms Power said the scheme is a positive move, the Asthma Society has warned the “excessive conditions” associated with the scheme have made it unworkable in practice. The conditions include a member or members of the organisation completing an approved course of Cardiac First Response by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council and the organisation itself registering themselves and the medication with the Health Products Regulatory Authority.
According to the Asthma Society’s Medical Adviser Professor Richard Costello, “the Minister for Health should make it clear to teachers that they should not be reluctant to give a child reliever medication in an asthma emergency. The potential side effects, such as shakiness and increased heart rate, are minor and temporary. Up to 8 puffs of salbutamol can safely be taken in one day. Delay in taking medication, on the other hand, could cost a life.”
The Asthma Society has published a range of free resources for schools on its website www.asthma.ie. Parents or teachers who want more information or advice can also speak to a nurse for free by calling the Society’s Adviceline on 1800 44 54 64.
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