VNA Donates Nebulizer Units For Asthmatic Students
VNA Donates Nebulizer Units For Asthmatic Students
By Kaaren Valenta
The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Newtown has donated five Pulmoaide units to local schools so that children with asthma and other upper respiratory conditions can get vital nebulizer treatments.
âThis is really a convenience for parents,â said Middle School nurse Joyce LaForte. âNow parents donât have to supply one every day. And it helps those who canât afford to provide one.â
The unit is kept in the nurseâs office. Each student supplies his or her own tubing and the prescription medication, which is kept locked up in the nurseâs office. The nebulizer produces a fine spray or mist that effectively delivers the medicine when needed by the student.
âThe mother of a student [at the Middle School] donated a unit, so we called [then VNA President] Mae Schmidle to see if the VNA could donate units for each school. There was a definite need,â Ms LaForte said.
A unit also had been purchased by a parent at St Rose School. So the VNA purchased five units through The Drug Center so that each of the elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school would have a unit.
âMost of our [asthmatic] children have problems in the fall, so this is a good time to have the units,â Ms LaForte said.
VNA President Christine Wiemels said the units, $85 each, were purchased through profits from the VNA Thrift Shop at Edmond Town Hall.
âWe try to put the profits back into the town,â she said.
âThe VNA is an organization to turn to when you have a need. That is our mission,â Ms Schmidle added.
Middle School nurse Barbara Reilly said the nebulizer units have helped a lot of students.
âKids who couldnât be in school [because of the upper respiratory problems] are now in school. It is wonderful that they have been provided by the VNA,â she said.