Phoenix's Air Quality Crisis: How One Pharmacist Is Teaching Kids to Breathe Easier

A new educational program at Phoenix Children's Hospital is helping families with asthmatic children recognize dangerous air quality and take steps to prevent life-threatening asthma attacks. Through personalized coaching and air quality monitoring tools, the initiative has already reached approximately 50 children and is expanding across one of America's most polluted cities.

Why Is Phoenix's Air Quality Such a Problem for Kids With Asthma?

Phoenix ranks as the fourth worst city in the United States for ozone pollution and 20th for year-round particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association's 2025 State of the Air Report. The geography and climate create a perfect storm for respiratory problems. Dry air, dust, fewer plants, pollution from industry and mines, and prolonged heat all contribute to unhealthy air that gets trapped in the valley. "It's like living in a bowl where the particles are stuck," explains Alejandro "Alex" Vazquez, an ambulatory clinical pharmacist at Phoenix Children's Hospital's Severe Asthma Clinic.

Children, older adults, and individuals living with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other lung conditions face the greatest risk of life-threatening complications from air pollution. For kids with asthma, poor air quality can trigger severe attacks that land them in the hospital—something Vazquez knows firsthand from his own childhood.

How Does the Pilot Program Help Families Protect Their Children?

The program, supported by the American Lung Association and CVS Health, takes a practical, personalized approach to asthma management. Each participating child receives a baseline breathing test, while their parent or guardian completes a survey documenting the child's asthma history, severity, and known triggers. Based on this information, Vazquez provides an hour-long educational session that covers:

• Air Quality Monitoring: Families learn how to check daily air quality reports and understand what different pollution levels mean for their child's health.
• Personalized Action Plans: Each family receives a customized plan for managing poor air quality days, including when to give additional medication, use masks, or stay indoors.
• Fact Sheets and Resources: Participants get written materials they can reference at home to reinforce what they've learned during the session.

One month after the initial session, Vazquez follows up with each child and guardian to see if the new information and action plan are actually helping reduce severe asthma attacks. The child's asthma management plan is updated at each visit based on what's working.

The results have been encouraging. "We've received very positive feedback," said Vazquez. "When we called them back, they were using the resources, checking air quality, giving their child a mask, pretreating them and keeping them indoors, when necessary".

What's the Bigger Picture for Air Quality and Lung Health?

The CVS Health Foundation is investing $3.5 million over four years to support the American Lung Association's work in improving clean air and health outcomes in at-risk communities, including Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix. The program works with healthcare providers to create and distribute tools that improve lung health, promotes policies to protect respiratory health, and empowers individuals living with lung diseases to reduce the risk of serious health complications.

Beyond education, the initiative is also deploying technology to monitor air quality. The Lung Association is supporting the distribution of outdoor sensors—nearly 400 to date—throughout the Phoenix area to track pollution levels in real time. Vazquez plans to distribute additional sensors to his adult patients to better understand which communities face the highest risk from unhealthy air and how poor air quality affects people without a history of asthma or lung disease.

The stakes are significant. In the United States, more than 156 million people live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. While air pollution has improved across much of the country over the past few decades, wildfires, flooding, and other climate-related events are threatening that progress. In the past year, the Phoenix area has experienced more fires, more dryness, and more dust—conditions that directly affect not just patients with asthma, but entire communities.

The American Lung Association is also working with healthcare providers and community organizations in The Bronx in New York City and Houston, Texas, which are similarly disproportionately impacted by poor air quality. For Vazquez, whose own experience with childhood asthma inspires his work, the mission is personal. "It's really cool to help these kids plan for and prevent an asthma attack, so they can hopefully live more active, healthier lives," he said.