Alejandro “Alex” Vazquez knows what it’s like to live with childhood asthma. “I was such a sick kid. I remember all the missed days of school and feeling helpless when I couldn’t breathe, especially when I ended up in the hospital.”
Today, Vazquez serves as an ambulatory clinical pharmacist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Severe Asthma Clinic. There, he helps children and families better understand the risks of unhealthy air, recognize when the air is dangerous, and take appropriate steps to prevent severe asthma attacks.
Through a pilot program, supported by the American Lung Association and CVS Health, Vazquez has helped developed and is now implementing an educational intervention to minimize the risk of a severe asthma attack. While air pollution impacts everyone, children, older adults and individuals living with asthma, COPD and other lung and health conditions face the greatest risk of life-threatening complications.
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