Important Information
Asthma is a lung condition usually controlled by medication; Asthma attacks can occur suddenly or they can develop over a few hours or days; A patient suffering from a mild asthma attack will normally have trouble breathing (wheezing)
In a severe asthmatic attack you may not be able to hear the wheezing sound and the patient may experience difficulty speaking, drowsiness or unconsciousness; A severe asthma attack is a medical emergency, follow primary care procedures
Patient Care; Asthma
- Reassure and calm the patient, encourage them to sit leaning forwards
- Ensure plenty of fresh air and enable the patient to use their medication
- If the symptoms do not ease after three minutes, ask the patient to take a second dose
- If the patient doesn't improve or in a severe or first attack, Alert EMS
- Continue to monitor the patient's lifeline until EMS arrives
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