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Respiratory therapist urges Wichita schools to stock albuterol inhalers and spacers for emergencies
Summary
A registered respiratory therapist urged the board to adopt policies allowing school staff to administer emergency albuterol via inhaler and to secure funding for spacers, citing asthma prevalence among students and recent state law enabling districts to stock emergency albuterol.
Kendraille Holly, a registered respiratory therapist and certified asthma educator, told the Wichita Board of Education on Sept. 8 that schools should make inhalers available as an emergency backup for students whose device is lost, forgotten or empty.
Holly said Kansas recently adopted legislation that allows school districts to stock emergency albuterol and that inhalers are a rapid and effective route for administering the medicine in an acute asthma event. She provided the board a handout recommending a preferred inhaler and described an incident in which administration of an inhaler allowed a child to attend class instead of missing school.
Holly asked the district to partner with her on next steps, including seeking funding for spacers (the plastic device that helps a child use an inhaler correctly) from state sources or local hospitals. She said she will return with additional information and offered to help the district implement a program.
District staff did not take formal action at the meeting; board members thanked the speaker and noted continued conversation would follow.
