Treating an Uncontrolled Asthma Attack in Children

Your child will not want to eat, but he will benefit from extra drinks. Talk to your child in a calm reassuring way, and encourage him or her to breathe slowly.

If children have been taught any special breathing exercises, this is the time to use them. Diversions, such as listening to a story or a story tape, watching TV, or doing a puzzle, will take your child's mind off what is happening and will give the treatment time to work.

Treatments will depend on the plan agreed with your doctor. Your child may need to take the reliever treatments by nebuliser. Your doctor may bring the equipment round, or you may have one in the house. However, treatment with a spacer device can often be as effective.

Don't wake your child if, after treatment, he or she falls asleep and starts to wheeze. Wheezing usually gets louder during sleep.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the asthma does not respond to the treatment you can provide at home. Here are some general guidelines for you to follow:

- Staying calm is essential, even if it means you have to give an Oscar-winning performance. Children are very sensitive to your fear and anxiety.
- Call your doctor or an ambulance or take your child to hospital (whichever is the quickest way of getting expert help).
- If your child is able to swallow them, give the dose of steroid tablets agreed with your doctor for this contingency.
- If the attack is very severe, i.e. the child is going blue and is unable to talk, call an emergency ambulance because extra oxygen will be needed for the journey.
- Give an extra dose of reliever spray before leaving the house, whether you are travelling by car or ambulance.
- If you go to hospital, make sure you take all your child's medications with you to show the doctor.

Once the crisis is past, make sure you have a follow up appointment with the hospital doctor, or your own family doctor. It is worth discussing with the hospital doctor, your doctor (or both), whether your child's hospital admission could have been avoided. You may also need to restock on your child's drugs, including the special solutions needed for the nebuliser.