More than 100 people from the Scottsbluff area attended the Third Annual Asthma Awareness event hosted recently by the UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division.
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Hannah Rodehorst and Amy Krichau, who were “walking inhalers” demonstrate how the inhaler works, and the difference between the relief inhaler and the control inhaler. |
The event offered free asthma screenings and education at the Monument Mall in Scottsbluff, where about 35 adults and children were screened for asthma, 18 of whom were referred for further follow up with their physician.
As children learned about asthma through an interactive computer game, adults were gathering pamphlets and talking to nurses from the college and other health organizations.
“The majority of people who attended found that the screening with the spirometer was most helpful,” said Kim Rodehorst, Ph.D., assistant nursing professor. “One mother said she knew her daughter had some trouble with asthma, but didn’t know it was as bad as she found out.”
Dr. Rodehorst said one grade school girl asked her parents if she could do the test because she has a hard time breathing after running. “Her parents agreed to let her do the screening, and it was recommended that she see her physician for follow up care because her pulmonary function values were low,” she said.
During the event, children helped celebrate the event’s theme, “Lifting the Burden of Asthma,” by releasing a bag of 100 balloons outside.
Sponsors of the event were the college, LINCARE, Inc., Panhandle Community Services, the Nebraska Student Nurses Association, Lakhman Gondalia, M.D., of the Wyoming Chest and Allergy Clinic, Cheyenne, Wyo., and other area health providers.