[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10543]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ASTHMA PREPAREDNESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, today is World Asthma Day, and tomorrow is 
Asthma Awareness Day on Capitol Hill. I am co-chair along with the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns). Tomorrow I will be introducing 
legislation with the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy) called 
ASTHMA 2003. We intend to offer this legislation, and we think my 
colleagues should take a look at it and I hope they will cosponsor it.
  But today I want all of us to think about this disease which is 
increasing astonishingly rapidly and it is affecting 20 million 
Americans, over 5 million of which are children who are in school. 
Asthma is the most common cause of missed schooldays. That is 14 
million annually. It costs us tremendously in lost time learning, lost 
productivity and earnings and medical expenses, including of course 
costly emergency room visits.
  While scientists work to understand asthma's prevalence and 
pharmaceutical makers discover new treatments, caring doctors, nurses 
and respiratory therapists dutifully diagnose and educate patients and 
parents and children with asthma soldier along, one different aspect I 
would like to talk about is the importance of remembering asthma 
medication in the role of self-preparation for emergencies. The events 
of this past year have heightened our collective consciousness to 
planning ahead and being ready for the unexpected and symptom-
relieving, lifesaving asthma and allergy medication should be a part of 
every diagnosed individual or their family's ``go-kit.''
  Did anyone see the movie ``Signs'' last summer when the family hid 
out in the basement but the father in his haste forgot to grab his 
asthmatic son's inhaler, the bronchodilator? By the time of escape, the 
son had to be revived out of his throat-closing reaction with an 
injection of epinephrine. That is a scary, sobering image. So remember 
critical medications to treat asthma and severe allergy reactions in 
the plans. Good resources to follow are the Federal Government's 
website, www.ready.gov, or ones operated by the American Red Cross or 
numerous other organizations.
  Take us here in the Capitol. It is possible that rather than 
evacuation, we may be sheltered in place if there is a biological, 
chemical, or radiological event in the local area. If my colleagues or 
their families or anybody in the Capitol have allergies or asthma, do 
they have an extra inhaler in their desk drawer? I ask the Members to 
please remember this: To encourage their staff and our House employees 
to plan for such a contingency.
  I would like to end with a heartening asthma story which I think 
comes to the point. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, our Army medical 
personnel provided a very touching story of treating injured, sick and 
pregnant civilians, perhaps more than a season of ``M*A*S*H'' episodes, 
but I found one especially inspiring. The Washington Post reported this 
on April 2, reported that Rashed Mohammad, his wife, Sikara, and their 
son approached U.S. soldiers with their 3-year-old daughter, Rajwa. She 
was breathing laboredly in rapid gasps. The family could not afford the 
medical fees at the Iraqi hospital, and the parents feared their 
daughter would die.
  A team led by Captain Eric Schobitz, 30, an Army doctor from Fairfax, 
administered oxygen and intravenous drip and antibiotics. ``She has 
pneumonia and is also suffering from an asthma attack,'' he said. 
Equally important to arresting her acute episode, the Captain Schobitz 
showed her mother how to administer the inhaler and instructed the 
family to return if she showed no improvement in 2 days. And at this 
point, God willing, we are assuming she had a good outcome.
  This underscores what I always promote and what my bill tomorrow 
addresses: Asthma management involves a committed team of the provider, 
the parents, and the child. I pray for this little girl's good health. 
I salute Captain Schobitz and urge us to remember asthma and allergy 
medication in our emergency preparedness efforts and wish all asthmatic 
children well on the eve of Asthma Awareness Day, which is going to be 
here in the Capitol.
  Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, please join us tomorrow in the Cannon 
Caucus Room from 1 o'clock to 2 p.m. for a press conference, followed 
by a free asthma screening for all House Members, staff and all 
employees.

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