Federal funds to aid young asthma patients
EL CENTRO — Earlier this week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a round of funding allocated for California, including $17,000 for the El Centro Regional Medical Center.
The funding received from the federal government will go toward the hospital’s Imperial Valley Child Asthma Program to enhance the level of services they provide young residents of the Valley who are disproportionately affected by asthma.
Imperial County is one of the worst areas in the state of California when it comes to air quality. According to data from the California Department of Public Health, the county has the highest rate of asthma-related emergency services visits in the state for children aged 5-17.
While the state has an average of 72.4 emergency visits per 10,000, the rate in the Valley is more than twice that with 163 per 10,000 per year.
The IV Child Asthma Program consists of a personalized educational program for families of asthmatic children in order to help them make small but significant modifications at their homes to help prevent asthma triggers.
As part of the program, families learn what causes asthma and how it affects their child, available medication, how to use an inhaler, nebulizer and other devices, and how to recognize symptoms.
Under the program, 150 to 250 clients are served in any given year, said program director Aide Fulton.
Properly treating asthma requires a medical diagnosis, adequate medication, educating the families about asthma triggers and how to reduce and prevent them.
Fulton said one of the challenges for the program is its reduced staffing level, with only two individuals doing home visits with the families of those diagnosed with asthma. She said the additional funding the program has received can help them bring one more person to work with the local families and continue to offer their services and products free of charge.
“Those monies may not last long, but will definitely help the patients we serve who don’t have the money to buy these products. This is wonderful and is greatly appreciate it,” Fulton said. “This program focuses on the elimination of triggers at home and is going to help them maintain long-term control of the disease.”
The emissive dust from the receding shoreline of the Salton Sea and the emissions from cars in the border have long been suspected to be the biggest contributors to the poor air quality problem in the Valley.
Fulton said she has seen increases in asthma cases in recent years.
The asthma problem may worsen in the next few years, as this is the final year in which the Imperial Irrigation District is mandated to send mitigation water to the Salton Sea as part of the water transfer deal from 2003. Despite the vast amount of work that still lies ahead, Fulton said the funding for the program has been allocated by multiple agencies and will continue to be crucial to keep educating the public on the best practices to keep their asthma under control.
Fulton said the county Children and Families First Commission currently provides funding for children up to five years old. Earlier this year through IID’s Local Entity Grant program the IV Child Asthma Program was approved for $100,000.
“It was definitely a great year for us, this totally enhances our program,” Fulton said. “It will help us bring and alleviate the recurrent needed services which we offer free to the public. It’s very important for the public to be aware of the range of free services we offer to them.”
For additional information, visit the Asthma Education Center located at 1470 South Imperial Ave., Suite A or call 760482-0978.