The Red Alert Program for Life-threatening Asthma

To design a program to prevent death in children with life-threatening asthma. Using published guidelines to identify patients with life-threatening asthma, we developed a comprehensive medical network involving emergency medical services, school workers, extended family members, local physicians, e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatrics (Evanston) 1997-08, Vol.100 (2), p.187-191
Main Authors: Sherman, James M, Capen, Cindy L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Asthma
Asthma - mortality
Asthma - therapy
Asthma in children
Biological and medical sciences
Care and treatment
Child
Child, Preschool
Childhood asthma
Children & youth
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma
Emergency services
Female
Health Education
Humans
Infant
Male
Management
Medical emergencies
Medical sciences
Patient Education as Topic
Pediatrics
Pneumology
Program Evaluation
Severity of Illness Index
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Summary:To design a program to prevent death in children with life-threatening asthma. Using published guidelines to identify patients with life-threatening asthma, we developed a comprehensive medical network involving emergency medical services, school workers, extended family members, local physicians, emergency rooms, and a referral center. The network was designed to provide early, aggressive medical attention and rapid access to care for patients enrolled in the program. In 8 years of operation, 75 patients have been enrolled. There have been 270 hospitalizations, with life-threatening asthma occurring in 25 admissions in 15 patients. Three patients have died; of these, two did not use the services provided by the program. The Red Alert Program has been successful in assuring more aggressive and timely intervention for asthma attacks and seems to have prevented deaths. Patients and their families express a high degree of satisfaction with the services. The Red Alert Program may serve as a model for other programs for children with life-threatening asthma.
ISSN:0031-4005
1098-4275
DOI:10.1542/peds.100.2.187