Goal 3: Establish a school-wide process for handling worsening asthma.

It is important that all schools have a school wide process for handling worsening asthma so that the school community is prepared to respond to worsening asthma appropriately.

There are several activities to advocate and provide support for school-wide processes to handle worsening asthma.

• Provide schools with copies of the School Asthma Information Package to distribute to students with asthma and their parents/guardians.
• The School Asthma Information Package includes:
• Authorization for Medication Use Form (Board specific)
• Student Asthma Management Plan 
• Your Child has Asthma …What Can you Do?
• Parent/Guardian Responsibility Checklist
• Student with Asthma Responsibility Checklist
• When meeting with school administrators and principals stress the importance of having parents/guardians receive, review and complete the School Asthma Information package as part of the school registration process.  Completion of the Student Asthma Management Plan is the only way that teachers and other school personnel know how to manage the individual student's asthma.  This form is an essential communication and coordination tool among the school community, parents/guardians and health care professionals for managing asthma at school.

• Provide copies and encourage display of the Managing Asthma Episodes poster in school offices and in every classroom.  This poster outlines how to recognize worsening asthma and its severity and how to respond accurately.

• Provide learning opportunities for the school community to know how to identify worsening asthma and how to respond appropriately.  This can be done through the provision of workshops to school personnel and assemblies to the entire school community. (See Resources: Presentations)

• Meet with teachers to discuss how to handle worsening asthma and provide copies of

• Asthma in the Classroom: What Teachers Need to Know
• Asthma: Managing Real Life Situations – Practical Strategies for Teacher
• Asthma and physical education
• Basics of Asthma, Allergies and Anaphylaxis
• Managing Asthma In Our Schools DVD Resource Package

• Provide and encourage publishing the school newsletter article Your Child is Having an Asthma Episode to improve awareness among the entire school community.

Encourage teachers and other school personnel to inform parents/guardians if they notice the student experiences worsening asthma.  Teachers are often in a position to notice that the child is having problems with his/her asthma.