© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A push for Maryland schools to stock emergency inhalers

dieselbug2007/Flickr Creative Commons
dieselbug2007/Flickr Creative Commons via CC BY-NC 2.0
dieselbug2007/Flickr Creative Commons

If a student has an asthma flare at school, they need treatment right away. But, while schools carry epi-pens and overdose reversal medication, they do not stock inhalers.

Pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Christy Sadreameli fills us in on a bill to require schools to have rescue inhalers on hand for emergencies. Former school nurse Mikki Fritz tells of a pupil who had an inhaler registered with the school, but that device stopped working, "Luckily, his mother had enough foresight to have an inhaler with him. So, he had one in his pocket and he used it on himself."

Read the multi-society policy statement, "Ensuring Access to Albuterol in Schools: From Policy to Implementation."

Then, an update on open enrollment from Michele Eberle of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. Open enrollment ends February 28th.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Maureen Harvie is Senior Supervising Producer for On the Record. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and joined WYPR in 2014 as an intern for the newsroom. Whether coordinating live election night coverage, capturing the sounds of a roller derby scrimmage, interviewing veterans, or booking local authors, she is always on the lookout for the next story.