Asthma Treatment: At School

• If your child's healthcare professional has prescribed a long-term preventative medication, make sure it's taken as prescribed, even on good days.
• If exercise triggers your child's asthma, ask your healthcare professional about developing a pre-exercise treatment plan.
• If the school allows your child to carry his or her own quick-relief medication, make sure it's kept in a handy place, such as a backpack or pocket.
• Some schools require students to keep their quick-relief inhalers in the health office. If this is the case, be sure school officials are aware of this in your written plan for dealing with asthma flare-ups. Be sure your child knows to go to the office at once at the first sign of a flare-up.
• If your child doesn't respond to quick-relief medication, he or she should receive immediate medical attention. Let the school know that it should contact the appropriate healthcare professional.

Asthma Treatment: At Work

• If your loved one has been prescribed a long-term preventative medication, make sure he or she takes it exactly as prescribed, even on good days.
• Encourage your loved one to keep his or her quick-relief medication close by at all times, eg, in a backpack, handbag, a desk drawer, a pocket, or anywhere it can be found quickly.
• Make certain your loved one knows to use quick-relief medication the moment warning signs occur. If symptoms don't respond, encourage him or her to leave work and seek medical help.
• If your loved one is bothered by dust, suggest that he or she work with his or her employer to make sure the office is as dust-free as possible. If cleaning chemicals are a trigger, encourage your loved one to request that the cleaning crew use less of them or switch to brands that are not a problem.