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Sample Press Release For School/Community Newspaper
Contact: ____________________________________(School Contact)
____________________________________(Phone #, email address)
_________________________________________________(School) Initiates Special Student Asthma Awareness Program
(Appropriate Date) CITY NAME ______________________________ (School) announced today the initiation of Peak Performance USA in ____________________ (School Name), a school asthma awareness and management campaign. The American Association for Respiratory Care-sponsored program includes school asthma management guidance; a peak flow meter for monitoring student’s breathing capabilities, a holding chamber for medication administration, and education material about asthma.
According to ______________________________________(School contact or representative), approximately nine million American children under the age of 18 and 5.6 million children ages 5–17 have been diagnosed with asthma. Studies published in the Journal of Pediatrics, indicate that asthma is one of the leading causes of school absences due to illness.
“Unfortunately, despite recent advances in medical knowledge about the condition, the prevalence of asthma continues to be a national health problem,” commented ___________________(same school contact). “However, asthma can be controlled with appropriate care and management.”
Use of a peak flow meter for monitoring a student’s breathing functions can help control asthma. Children with asthma often have acute episodes of breathing problems such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. The cause for these episodes is an over-sensitivity of the lungs’ airways resulting in overreaction to certain triggers. These triggers may include air pollution, allergies, colds or flu, animals, smoke, weather changes or emotional, among other things.
“Asthma education, and school staff monitoring of these children, can improve their quality of life and school performance. The American Association for Respiratory Care developed Peak Performance USA as a way to help in the delivery of this education and management at school,” continued ____________________(same school contact).