Take a vacation from school ... not from Asthma care
Enjoy summer’s warm weather and long days but don’t forget to adjust your routine to include careful monitoring of asthma symptoms and daily medication use to keep the potential for a serious asthma attack in check.
Once school lets out, some families let up on their monitoring and treatment of asthma. This can lead to serious health consequences.
At the start of summer the family should sit down and make an asthma plan for home, travel and camp. Many families link their asthma routine to specific events during the school day, such as departure for school or homework. During the summer, a family needs to designate other landmarks such as dinner or bedtime for elements of the asthma-care routine, such as peak flow monitoring and medications.
Before going on vacation, asthma patients should make sure they have plenty of medications of all types, including treatment for an attack. While on the road, everyone in the family should know where the medications are stored. Pay attention to early warning signs of an attack, even if it means a temporary halt to the fun.
For kids who go to summer camp, camp counselors should receive a checklist of the child’s asthma triggers. Trigger list may include sensitivities and allergens such as exercise, molds and pollens, perfumes and strong odors, trees and grasses, insect stings and animal dander.
Camp counselors should also be provided with a written asthma action plan on how to treat the disease should an emergency arise. Your child’s doctor should write the asthma action plan including triggers, early asthma warning signs, and what to do in an emergency. Also, find out where the child would go to receive emergency treatment care if needed.
Parents should check with the camp administrators on their policy of allowing children to keep medication with them. Every child with asthma should have a “rescue” inhaler, which is used for quick relief of symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and chest tightness.
Click here for the American Lung Associations Asthma Action Plan
