With more than 6 million children living with asthma, according to the C.D.C., there’s a nationwide push to prevent emergency visits due to asthma.
In Southern Arizona, a group of healthcare workers are doing the work they hope will make a difference. Four students and one director make up the “Asthma Action Team,” operated from Pima Community College West.
“I started to notice a trend,” said Alma Arellano, Clinical Director at Pima Community College West. “A lot of cases were coming through my students’ case logs. and I realized a lot of cases were coming through with symptoms of asthma, but not diagnosed with asthma.”
This observation jumpstarted her efforts to form the Asthma Action Team, with the goal to teach families about asthma. Each of the four students were inspired by their own experiences in taking this opportunity.
“My son was diagnosed with asthma, the more I learned about the condition, the more I found my passion,” said Erica Middlekauff, a P.C.C. student.
While their respiratory program’s classrooms are currently under construction, the group has kept busy preparing for the first official partnership with the Lomeli Daycare in Douglas, Arizona.