Asthma Action Plan for

Your child has been diagnosed with asthma. Asthma starts with a trigger such as a cold, allergy, or smoke. His lungs have a reaction (inflammation), which causes the muscles in the lungs to tighten (bronchospasm), making breathing difficult.

Green Zone (no asthma symptoms)	What to do:
No difficulty breathing, cough, wheezing or chest tightness

Can do usual activities

Take control medicine:

Avoid the triggers you know about

Yellow Zone (early asthma symptoms)	What to do:
Shortness of breath, tight feeling in chest, or coughing

Waking at night due to asthma

Wheezing or sound of “pushing” breath out

Able to do some, but not all of usual activities

Take rescue medicine:

Call his doctor

Discuss starting oral steroid medicine

He should continue taking his maintenance medicine

Red Zone (late asthma symptoms)	What to do:
Trouble talking

Use of stomach or neck muscles

Need rescue medicine more than every 3 hours

Sudden onset of chest pain

Take an additional dose of rescue medicine

Call his doctor or come to the emergency room immediately

If he has trouble walking or talking due to shortness of breath, or lips or fingernails are blue, call for an ambulance NOW!
Is my child’s asthma in control?

If your child’s control medicines are working, he will only need his rescue medicine once in a while. You can use the “Rule of Twos” to tell if his asthma is in control:

Does he need his rescue medicine more than two times a week?

Does he wake up at night with asthma more than two times a month?

Do you run out of his rescue medicine and need to refill it more than two times a year?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, call our office to make an appointment to get his asthma in better control.

12/22/2010 2:40 PM

Revised October 19, 2010, D. Wachsstock, MD. Portions (C) 1996-1999 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. All rights reserved.

Asthma Action Plan

Employee

2010-10-13

Daniel Wachsstock

Unity Health