6,000 LOUTH ASTHMA KIDS ‘ARE AT RISK’
As nearly 6,000 asthmatic children return to school in Louth, the Asthma Society has warned that every school should have an asthma inhaler in their first aid kit in case of an emergency. But two years after a new scheme was put in place by then Minister for Health Leo Varadkar not a single school has received an emergency asthma inhaler under it. This, combined with some reluctance to administer asthma medication, is putting children’s lives at risk.
The situation was highlighted by a parliamentary question asked by Louth TD Declan Breathnach. Asthma Society CEO, Averil Power: ‘Having immediate access to emergency medication can be the difference between life and death. The previous Minister for Health recognized 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.
‘While this was a positive move, we warned Minister Harris last year that the excessive conditions associated with the scheme have made it unworkable in practice. Now the answer to a parliamentary question has revealed that not one single school has used it to obtain an inhaler. This failure is putting lives at risk and must be addressed by the minister without further delay.
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’.