Helpful Programs for Nurses

ALA: Open Airways for Schools

The American Lung Association's Open Airways for Schools is a program designed to empower 8- to 11-year-old children and their parents manage asthma.

It has been proven that children who participate in Open Airways for Schools have fewer and less severe asthma attacks, improve their academic performances, and have more confidence in their abilities to take more steps to manage their asthma.

While asthma strikes children of all backgrounds, minority groups are disproportionately affected. Open Airways is now available with both English and Spanish language text on the handouts and posters.

In addition, it is the goal to implement the Open Airways program in Spanish in all schools where there is a need to educate Spanish-speaking children who have asthma.

The Open Airways program consists of six lessons, which are taught during the school day. Each lesson is 40 minutes long and is designed to be easy for trained volunteers or school staff to present.

Included in the packet are a detailed curriculum, an instructor's guide, and posters and handouts.

To arrange for an Open Airways program in your school, contact your local American Lung Association or call 1-800-LUNG-USA.

Read the brochure.

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EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit

In order to help improve indoor air quality problems in school buildings, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools Action Kit.

This kit helps school personnel identify, solve and prevent indoor air quality problems in the school environment.

Through the use of a 19-step management plan and checklists for the entire building, schools can also lower their students' and staff's risk of exposure to asthma triggers.

The checklists cover the building's ventilation system, maintenance procedures, classrooms (especially animals and mold) and food service areas.

Included in the kit is a Coordinator's Guide, which explains the fundamentals of indoor air quality in schools and procedures for improving the air inside the schools.

The kit also contains checklists, a background informational piece for staff, a problem-solving wheel to identify potential indoor air quality causes and solutions, a guide for health professionals and a 30-minute, two-part video covering the ventilation checklist and a school's implementation of IAQ Tools For Schools.

For more information or to download the entire IAQ Tools for Schools Kit, click on the link below.

Schools (or school districts) and non-profit groups may receive a copy of the IAQ Tools for Schools Kit at no cost simply by faxing a request on school or company letterhead to IAQ INFO at 703-356-5386. For more information, please call IAQ INFO at 1-800-438-4318.

Link to: the EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Kit.