Chester Children are Puffers

Growing up in Chester, I never remember any of my playmates having asthma. I was an adult when I first saw someone use an inhaler and a much older adult when I witnessed a nebulizer treatment.

My world was changed when I attended a reading at Village Charter School on a book written by a dozen grade school children who are asthma suffers. The students shared how they manage their breathing issues in a story they created based on those experiences.

The event was sponsored by Keystone Mercy Health Plan and AstraZeneca who connected the students with a writing coach to produce their book that they also edited and illustrated themselves.

Besides the dozen or so student authors, there were a host of big shots from the companies involved, staff from the school, government officials and about 50 Village Charter students in attendance. After munching the refreshments and enjoying the student presentation of the book a handful of speakers took their turn at the mic.

Maria Pajil Battle, Keystone Mercy’s VP of Public Affairs, shared asthma related statistics and the programs Keystone has to help sufferers. And then she put out a request that went something like this… “Will all the students in the room who have asthma please raise your hands.”

I was blown away. Every child in the room - nearly 50 kids - raised their hands.

Up to that point I figured that maybe a handful of kids suffered with asthma but seeing all those hands go up really shocked me.

Since that day I have randomly stopped kids on the street and asked them if they have asthma. Easily, 9 out of 10 of them do. Just for kicks, if I’m with an adult I tell them that every child in Chester has asthma and of course they think I’m joking. Then, I have them watch what happens when I ask random kids if they have asthma.

I’ve made a lot of adults believers that every child in Chester has asthma because the results are always the same ever since I’ve started these ad hoc surveys.

Why do practically all of Chester children and teens have breathing problems? If it were half the kids I’d be concerned and I’d even be alarmed if maybe 25% had problems. But honestly, I didn’t expect the problem to be greater than maybe 5 or 10%.

But since I started my little surveys, 90% of the kids I’ve asked are using a ‘puffer’ or nebulizer. They tell me they’ve always used them. Most tell me all their friends use them and they share puffers if theirs run out.

Something ain’t right around here.

This is the first in a series of blogs that will attempt to get to the bottom of the asthma issues with the children of Chester.