Shropshire schools get asthma kits for pupils
Schools are being issued with asthma kits in order to reduce the number of children being sent to hospital.
The kits mean that for the first time schools can administer potentially life-saving inhalers to children having an asthma attack.
The new policy is being put into place in Telford & Wrekin, where schools are being given kits and staff are getting training on how to deal with an asthma attack.
The move has been made possible by a recent change in the law which allows schools to acquire the well-known blue Salbutamol inhalers without a prescription.
The inhalers offer relief to people suffering asthma and many children carry their own from prescriptions from their doctors. The new policy means that schools can now hold the inhalers in their offices, allowing instant access to medical help in the event of an emergency.
The kits and training are being subsidised by Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group. It is hoped early treatment of symptoms can prevent the need for children to be taken to accident and emergency at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital. It can also alleviate an asthma attack, which in rare and extreme cases can be fatal.
The asthma kits are available in Shropshire through chemists and each school in the Shropshire Council area has their own asthma champions. They have access to the kits if needed.
Jacqui Seaton, head of medicines management for Telford & Wrekin CCG , said: "On average asthma attacks lead to 20 emergency hospital admissions a week in Telford, and untreated attacks can be potentially deadly.
"On average there are two diagnosed asthmatic children in every single class in the area, and research has shown almost 90 per cent of children with asthma have at some time either lost or forgotten their inhaler or had it run out while they are at school.
"The emergency kits are a really safe and sensible way to ensure children with asthma have a back-up if they do have an attack at school and they can't use their own inhaler for whatever reason.
"We've been really impressed by the number of schools that have taken up the offer of receiving the kits and staff training."
The kits include inhalers, spacers that make them easier to use, and instructions on use. Parents of pupils who have an asthma diagnosis are been asked if they are happy for the school to administer inhalers if their child has an attack they can't treat themselves.
