By ChrisAnna Mink, Photo: Nenad Stojkovic/Flickr/Creative Commons, Center for Health Journalism, September 27, 2022
Nick, a 13-year-old Latino who lives in town of Turlock in California’s Central Valley, has been rushed to the emergency room twice in his life, at ages 4 and 6, because of an asthma attack. His lung muscles were having such severe spasms that air couldn’t get in. His lips were turning blue. His blood oxygen dropped to 87%, with normal being at least 94%.
“He couldn’t stop coughing, couldn’t catch his breath and it was horrifying,” said Patty Guerra, Nick’s mother.
What Nick remembers most is that the doctors in urgent care put him in the ambulance slated for a patient having a heart attack for transit to the local hospital. That patient was stable, but Nick was not.
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