The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently discovered that many Georgia Schools may not be armed with the knowledge or the medications that are needed to fight asthma attacks for young asthma sufferers. Although there are many ways to fight the disease, much of the knowledge is not reaching the teachers or the school administrators. In Georgia, over 212,000 children age 17 and under have asthma. A recent poll uncovered that only 48% of parents have alerted their child’s teacher to their child’s asthma, and of that, only 42% have made sure that their child’s medicine is available at school, leaving only 27% of parents that have spoken with school administrators about their child’s disease.
"Not taking basic steps like having a fast-acting medication available at school in case of an asthma attack or communicating with the school about your child’s asthma could be setting the stage for an unmanageable medical crisis at school," Dr. Norman H. Edelman, the American Lung Association’s (ALA) chief medical officer warns. Parents need to be sure that their children are ready for school and asthma.