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Asthma

All students with asthma at Coonalpyn Primary School will be identified and names given to teachers as well as listed in the staff room.

Parents will be sent a letter giving them the opportunity of sending in a copy of their child's asthma management plan.

If personal plans are not sent in the following procedures will be used if identified children have an asthma attack.

ASSESS	Mild - Short of breath, wheeze.
	Moderate - Loud wheeze, breathing difficulty, able to speak in short sentences of 5 words or less.
	Severe - distressed, gasping for breath, difficulty speaking 2 words.

SIT	the student upright, remain calm and provide reassurance. Do not leave the student alone.

TREAT	with 4 puffs of the blue/grey reliever medication (Airomir, Asmol, Bricanyl or Ventolin), one puff at a time, preferably through a spacer device. Ask the student to take 4 breaths from the spacer after each puff. Repeat in 4 minutes if no improvement.

HELP	Call for an ambulance - (dial 000) - if no improvement or when in doubt.

MONITOR	Observe the student. Repeat medication every 4 minutes as required.

ALL OK?	Resume activity if free of symptoms. STOP activity if treatment was repeated or symptoms persist.

N.B. If the doctor deems this insufficient pending arrival of emergency services, detailed written recommendations must be provided so that special arrangements can be negotiated.

Please note - all parents of children with asthma should provide the blue/grey puffer for their child, clearly named and these need to be in the child's personal possession or given to the teacher. The school will hold a regular puffer located in the asthma management kit to be used in case of emergency.