Tiernan's death inspires school to update asthma records

A Lurgan school has issued an urgent appeal to parents of asthmatic pupils to have an inhaler stored at school, following the sudden death of former pupil Tiernan Green.
Tiernan GreenTiernan Green
Tiernan Green

Tiernan died suddenly last week of a severe asthma attack aged just 20-years-old.

His younger brother Ryan is a pupil of St Francis’ Primary School.

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In a pro-active bid to ease parents’ minds, Principal Anthony McMorrow sent a letter to parents yesterday asking them to help the school update their records and medication.

With 166 of the 827 pupils diagnosed with asthma, the school already has a first class system in place to help deal with attacks but wants to ensure that the school knows about all children with asthma.

Mr McMorrow said: “We wanted to get everything up to date after what happened to Tiernan. God forbid that we would let one slip through the net.”

In his letter to parents, he said: “You will all know of the tragic loss suffered by the Green family recently when Tiernan had an acute asthmatic attack during the night.

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“We have a very large number of children in our school who are known to us to suffer from asthma (166) and we wrote to parents at the start of the year to request a blue inhaler and spacer, placed in a hard box with the child’s name, photograph and expiry date.

“We are concerned that there may be children who have asthma and we have not been informed.

While this requires a little organisation, it is obviously absolutely essential in the event of an asthmatic attack.

“The boxes are stored centrally in each classroom so we will know exactly where to go to quickly find the right inhaler for the right child. We will also keep an eye to expiry dates and stay in touch with parents when replacements are required.

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“This urgent letter is to remind those of you who have yet to complete the consent form and return it to us with the hard box that you must do this immediately. Your child is precious to you and to us and their health and safety is the number one priority in and out of school.

“We haven taken the important decision that any child with asthma who does not have an inhaler stored centrally in school will not be permitted to go on any school trip or outing for their own safety.

“We have one emergency inhaler in the office which cannot be taken on trips. We are now asking for your co-operation in ensuring that your child never misses a trip for this reason.

“If you are not aware of the letter of consent (which allows us to use your emergency inhaler) please call at the office to collect and complete one.”