I work as a paramedic at HCMC. When I was in school in the mid 1970's we were taught that asthma never killed anybody. Over a period of several years, starting in 1980, I cared for hundreds of asthmatics in the pre-hospital setting. During this time I learned that what I was taught in school was......true. Despite how sick they looked, being short of breath from an asthma attack was not a true emergency.
But things changed. If memory serves, it was approximately a year before former Superintendent of Mpls Public Schools Richard Greene died of an asthma attack in his New York apartment that we began to see folks die. At first it was thought to be an anomaly or perhaps the cause of death was from another, unknown cause. Soon, though, it became apparent to everyone that I worked with that the nature of asthma had drastically changed and it required a change in our protocols. Since that time and after seeing hundreds and hundreds of more asthma patients, I can tell you without reservation that asthma patients, as a whole, were much sicker than they used to be. The other strange thing about it was it that once they went into cardiac arrest, they were universally unresuscitatable. Now HCMC is one of the finest public teaching facilities in the country and its Emergency Department is nationally renowned. Couple this with the fact that one of the Staff Physicians, Dr David Plummer, had an asthmatic child led to an aggressive search for the best treatment protocol. The protocols that HCMC came up with is now the standard of care nation wide. Now when we see severe asthmatic attacks we are able to treat them effectively in the pre-hospital setting. I personally have not had one "crash" in my ambulance for several years. Now, you may find all of this interesting, but the point of my posting is this - During the investigation stage, the academics could not pin the cause increased morbidity and mortality to air pollution. To the surprise of all concerned this intuitive connection could not be made. Furthermore the country of New Zealand, with some of the world's cleanest air, was suddenly having just as much trouble with asthma as everyone else was. Now it may be that over the years further studies were able to establish the connection between asthma and air pollution. I will make it a point to ask around tomorrow. Duke Powell Burnsville _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
