December 2014 
 

The California School Environmental Health and Asthma Collaborative (SEHAC) brings together education and health professionals to promote indoor and outdoor environments that maximize health and learning in schools. SEHAC provides this newsletter to encourage implementation of practical strategies that assist schools b
  • Increasing awareness of the health, educational and financial costs associated with unhealthy indoor and outdoor air quality and asthma
  • Providing resources for addressing asthma and indoor and outdoor air quality
  • Introducing practices that leverage partnerships to address asthma and indoor and outdoor  quality
Every two months, SEHAC publishes brief articles on key issues; links to a range of resources that can help you address asthma and environmental health in your school(s), and timely learning opportunities such as workshops, conferences, and webinars.
Asthma-Safer School Cleaning Guide and Video
  

Helping Schools Reduce Asthma Risk, Save Money

 

Healthy Cleaning & Asthma-Safer Schools: A How-To Guide is a new set of guidelines that helps school districts go green and save money by transitioning to asthma-safer cleaning products and practices. A companion video introduces the Guide and features a school custodian whose asthma got worse while on the job. Also, custodians and administrators from across California describe the successes they've achieved using the methods recommended.


Studies confirm that asthma in schools is a serious health problem.
Approximately five million Californians - one in eight people - have been diagnosed with asthma, and 20% of Californians spend part of their day in a school. Everyone in schools - custodians, staff, and students - can be exposed when harmful cleaning and disinfecting products are used. Newer cleaning products and technologies allow school districts to save money and have clean and healthy schools with fewer risks to health and the environment.

 

The Guide also explains in simple, manageable steps how school administrators, facility managers, and other school stakeholders can switch to asthma-safer cleaning. Ready-to-use tools and forms will help districts progress through each step. A ready-to-use newsletter article and press release are included to help districts publicize safer cleaning successes throughout the school community. And the Guide includes a list of green cleaning, asthma and disinfection resources.


The
Cleaning for Asthma-Safe Schools (CLASS) project developed the guide and the video. CLASS helps California schools adopt safer cleaning practices to protect worker and student health. CLASS is housed in the California Department of Public Health's Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program.

In This Issue
Resources for Schools 
  

1.Games for children about lung health, provided by PBS

  

2 Diagnosing and Managing Asthma: A Quick Reference for Schools, Clinicians and Parents
 

3. Green Cleaning in Schools: A Guide for Advocates

 

 Announcement

Expert Panel Guidelines on

Asthma Request for Comments from the Public

 

The NIH (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)) in coordination with the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP),publishes the nation's premier document guiding the care and treatment of asthma known as EPR 3 or  Expert Panel Review 3 guidelines---The last update of these guidelines was in 2007.  Therefore, NHLBI is in the process of determining if and how these guidelines should be updated.

 

Here is where your input is needed,  the public comment period for the Draft Needs Assessment Report for Potential Update of the Expert Panel Report-3 (2007): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma is now open.

 

The Draft Needs Assessment Report and information on how to submit comments can be accessed at this link:   

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/resources/lung/nhlbac-asthma-report.htm

 

NHLBI will accept public comments up to Jan. 5, 2015. 


SEHAC has a
Facebook Page

 

Get the latest information and updates on asthma, environmental health, webinars, conferences, legislation and more. Share news from your organization. "Like" us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/ourSEHAC . If you don't use Facebook, you can still access the page for information.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  
  
 SEHAC Featured Member 
Organization
Regional Asthma Management and
Prevention 
 

Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) promotes comprehensive strategies for reducing asthma, ranging from clinical management to environmental protection, with a focus on communities inequitably affected by the disease. We collaborate with a wide range of asthma stakeholders to coordinate, share resources, advocate, and promote policy change in order to reduce inequities, strengthen prevention efforts, and improve asthma management.

 

Because children with asthma spend a significant portion of their day in schools, RAMP has paid considerable attention to asthma management and exposure to environmental asthma triggers in schools. We are proud to be among the founding members of SEHAC who came together to  share important information about asthma and schools with key school stakeholders.

  

RAMP has developed several tools for addressing asthma in school and child care settings including:

Additionally, you can sign up on our website to receive our monthly Digest containing the latest reports, studies, funding opportunities, and other resources for a wide range of asthma issues. Our website also has a comprehensive clearinghouse of asthma resources.

 

Finally, those interested in advocacy and policy change can review our Asthma Briefing Kit and its one-pager on indoor air quality in schools as well as track key asthma related policies. 

California  Breathing | maha.abdelaziz@cdph.ca.gov |
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