I work as a clinic nurse at an elementary school in downtown Houston, Texas. I live in the suburbs, and as I drive into work each day, I see the brown haze that hangs over the city center. Some days are worse than others—if it has rained the night before, the haze isn’t as bad.
Throughout the year—but especially in the spring and fall—children come into the clinic with respiratory symptoms like congestion, coughing and chest tightness. A few students have even been hospitalized with pneumonia.
Currently, I have 11 students with bronchodilator inhalers stored in the clinic. Our school has a population of 322 students. These numbers are small but significant, and I believe they reflect the broader issue of how air quality impacts children’s health every day.
