PAC New Jersey Co-Chairs Clatie Campbell (far left) and Arthur Torre, MD (second from right) with AANMA's Nancy Sander and PAC New Jersey Coordinating Manager Teresa Lampmann (far right).

The Pediatric/Adult Asthma Coalition of New Jersey, sponsored by the American Lung Association of New Jersey, was founded in 2000 as a statewide clearinghouse for asthma programs and services. State asthma experts came together to identify key concerns when working with asthma patients. Out of this process, the planning committee targeted five areas for statewide intervention:

• Schools
• Physicians
• Community outreach
• Health insurers
• Environment

PACNJ was setting its initial goals for statewide asthma education when the New Jersey legislature passed a state law mandating asthma education for school nurses and faculty before the start of the next school year. According to PACNJ Coordinating Manager Teresa Lampmann, "It became obvious that the area of greatest need was the schools, so everybody in the coalition got on board to meet this need."

PACNJ's School Task Force developed a 3-hour asthma training delivered to school nurses across the state via live satellite broadcast. The training included information on asthma medications, asthma triggers and asthma management in the school setting. PACNJ surveyed the nurses before and after the training to measure behavior changes and learning.

During the training, one nurse asked who would teach asthma education to school faculty. A New Jersey Department of Education representative responded that the school nurses would be responsible. "The gasp across the state was audible," says Teresa. PACNJ offered to help the school nurses with this aspect of training too. PACNJ developed a program to teach faculty to recognize early asthma symptoms, help children who show signs of asthma symptoms, and identify and eliminate asthma triggers in the classroom. Program materials were distributed to school nurses statewide to train school faculty. To encourage faculty participation, PACNJ recommended that nurses work with the school to obtain Professional Development Hours for the faculty program and develop certificates.

Not only did PACNJ help schools meet state training requirements, the coalition also helped school nurses reinforce their relationship with school faculty. The success of this program led PACNJ to develop similar trainings for childcare providers. The next phase of PACNJ's school and childcare program is statistical evaluation of progress. In a preliminary school nurse survey, 40 percent of nurses reported a drop in asthma-related school dismissals after nurses and faculty completed the asthma training.

According to Teresa Lampmann, the key components of PACNJ's success are leadership by the coalition's steering committee and having stakeholders (insurers, doctors, school nurses, patients and government agencies) work together to accomplish common goals. Ms. Lampmann adds that PACNJ would not have been able to accomplish their goals without the support of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, with funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2.