Students learn to use inhalers

For the Journal

Published Friday, January 9, 2009

Medical staff from Lake Region Healthcare and the Fergus Falls Medical Group teamed up in November to ensure that 83 Fergus Falls students know how to properly use the inhalers they carry for asthma.

This is the eighth year that the hospital has donated the time of its respiratory therapists for the asthma inhaler assessments, which school districts are required to provide annually. This year, Lake Region respiratory therapists Connie Graff and Jennifer Herzberg, along with Medical Group pediatric nurse Jill Geary and Fergus Falls School District nurse Kristi Wentworth, did the assessments.

Graff said inhaler assessments were mandated in school districts eight years ago, when the Legislature made it legal for students to carry their inhalers in school after several districts had near-fatal situations because students could not access their inhalers quickly enough. Other medications taken by students during the school day must be locked up and dispensed by school staff.

“If students can use their inhalers effectively, they can function better both in school and in their activities,” said Bonnie LaPlante, director of nursing services at the Fergus Falls Medical Group. “We’re pleased to be a part of making that possible.”

Each year, school staff members compile a list of students diagnosed with asthma and inform parents of the assessment. This year, the one-day assessment covered students at the Fergus Falls middle and high schools; Adams, Cleveland, Eisenhower and McKinley elementary schools; and Morning Son and Hillcrest Academy private schools,

Graff said that she and her colleagues spent 10-15 minutes with each student, reviewing proper use of inhalers and what to do in case of an asthma attack at school. Students were also given a take-home packet of information about managing asthma and asthma medication from Merck Pharmaceuticals.

“We meet with each of the kids so that they know how to use their medication correctly,” Graff said. “There is a wrong way and a right way to use inhalers, and if they use it wrong, they’re not getting the full benefit of the medication.”

Students who use inhalers regularly most often are familiar with correct usage, she added, but that is not always the case with students who need inhalers sporadically.

Although asthma is somewhat common, Graff said, it should not be taken lightly because there are about 3,500 deaths a year from asthma in the United States, and there have been student deaths from the disease in Moorhead, Alexandria and Thief River Falls. Asthma attacks can be especially serious for children who have them only intermittently and aren’t prepared.

“Lake Region Hospital is happy to do this,” Graff said. “The hospital understands the role that we have in preventing illness in the community. This is a great example of collaboration that works.”

Medical staff from Lake Region Healthcare and the Fergus Falls Medical Group teamed up in November to ensure that 83 Fergus Falls students know how to properly use the inhalers they carry for asthma.

This is the eighth year that the hospital has donated the time of its respiratory therapists for the asthma inhaler assessments, which school districts are required to provide annually. This year, Lake Region respiratory therapists Connie Graff and Jennifer Herzberg, along with Medical Group pediatric nurse Jill Geary and Fergus Falls School District nurse Kristi Wentworth, did the assessments.

Graff said inhaler assessments were mandated in school districts eight years ago, when the Legislature made it legal for students to carry their inhalers in school after several districts had near-fatal situations because students could not access their inhalers quickly enough. Other medications taken by students during the school day must be locked up and dispensed by school staff.

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