Asthma (HB)
Asthma is a chronic condition that affects the lower airway. It causes a constriction of the lower airway through two actions. It causes swelling and spasming of the bronchial tubes.
Asthma can also be triggered by acute events like exercise and cold air.
Diagnosed asthmatics will have prescription medications they take for treatment. The medications are either a slower acting steroid or a fast acting rescue drug (or a combination of the two).
Signs and Symptoms
Patients currently having an asthma attack will be in respiratory distress and will likely be wheezing or coughing.
The patient may present in a “tripod” position as it is the easiest position to breathe from. Do not try and lay the patient down—this will only make the problem worse.
Red Flags
It is red flag when the patient is not responding to their rescue inhaler—which could be because they didn’t use it early enough. In this case the respiratory distress will rapidly progress to respiratory failure and the accompanying change in mental status.
Treatment
The only two viable treatments are for the patient to use their inhaler and to use PROP. If those don’t work, the patient needs to be evacuated as soon as possible.
When using the inhaler, make sure the patient is spacing it correctly from their mouth—it is not effective to “suck” on the inhaler. The medication needs three to four inches to disperse in the air before being inhaled. They need to inhale as deeply as possible and hold it for as long as possible. The inhaler can be used several times if needed.