Asthma
Asthma is a condition where the breathing tubes in the lungs are extra sensitive and overreact to certain stimuli e.g. exercise, smoke, cold, stress
Asthma can be life-threatening
If diagnosed early and properly treated it is less likely to cause permanent damage i.e. scarring of the lungs. With asthma, the lining inside the air passages of the lungs is persistently inflamed and sensitive – even if there are no symptoms at the time.
An asthma attack happens when the breathing tubes:
Spasm - Tightening of the muscles in the walls of the airways
Swell - Inflammation of the lining of the airways
Produce sticky mucus - Phlegm plugging up the airways
Squeeze - Flattening of the airways by the pressure in the chest when trying to breathe out hard.
Signs and Symptoms
A patient may have one, any or all of the following
- Cough – the most common symptom, usually dry and persistent. Occurs particularly at night and after exercise
- Wheezing – a high pitches wind-blowing noise on breathing out
- Shortness of breath – breathing is fast and shallow, it feels like you can’t get enough air to breathe
- Chest tightness – like someone is standing on your chest and doesn’t allow it to expand freely when you breath
- Raised shoulders – as breathing becomes more difficult, the neck muscles tense causing the shoulders to be raised
- Blueness around the mouth – a sign that your body isn’t getting enough oxygen
- Difficulty speaking – the lack of breath results in not being able to say more than a few words at a time
- Expirations – are long, noisy and difficult
Mild attack? Short of breath, wheeze, cough, chest tightness
Moderate attack? Loud wheeze, breathing difficulty, can only speak in short sentences
Treatment
- Comfort and reassure patient
- Sit patient forward with arms supported
- Assist with medication
- If the patient does not improve after five minutes, call an ambulance Continue to use the blue inhaler –four to six puffs every five minutes until help arrives. In this situation you will not overdose the patient by administering the reliever every five minutes
Severe/life threatening?
Distressed/afraid, struggling to breathe, difficulty speaking two words, blueness around the mouth, it is a sudden severe attack, gets no relief from the reliever, appears to be getting worse
Treatment
- Get help / DIAL EMERGENCY
- Comfort and reassure patient
- Sit patient up with arms supported
- Assist with medication-
Use the blue inhaler – four to six puffs every five minutes until help arrives
-In this situation you will not overdose the patient but administering the reliever every five minutes
For comprehensive first aid information please refer to the MediTrain First Aid Manual or complete a MediTrain First Aid training course.
This First Aid tip is just one example of the contents of the SkillsforLife First Aid Manual.