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If you are like many parents with school aged children, you may notice that the spring and summer seasons may trigger more frequent asthma attacks in them. The Ontario County Health Department can provide you with a Finger Lakes Asthma Action Plan to be filled out by your child’s Healthcare Provider.

This Asthma Action Plan includes your child’s name, date of birth, address, emergency contact numbers, asthma severity, and asthma triggers. The Asthma Action Plan is broken down into three “zones.”

Green Zone: Good Control
The Green Zone occurs when a child feels good. They:

• Are not coughing or wheezing
• Can play during the day
• Sleep through the night

The Green Zone has a space for your doctor the write in your child’s daily asthma maintenance medications. These medications need to be taken every day, even when your child feels fine. Maintenance medications keep your child healthy and help to prevent asthma attacks.

Yellow Zone: Be Careful
The Yellow Zone occurs when your child has any of the following symptoms;

• Cough
• Wheeze
• Tight chest
• Wakes up at night because of coughing, wheezing, or tight chest.

There is a space for your doctor to write in medications that will be needed in addition to your child’s regular asthma maintenance medications. These medications are called Rescue Medications. These are to be used only when your child is having an asthma attack. There are reminders in the yellow zone to call your child’s doctor if your child continues to have breathing problems after using the rescue medications two times. You should also call the doctor if the Rescue Medications are needed more than two times a week during the day or two times a month during the night.

Red Zone: Danger
The Red Zone occurs when your child has any of these symptoms:

• Needs to use the Rescue Medications more than every 3-4 hours
• Struggling to breathe
• Can’t walk or talk
• Lips are blue

Call 911 if symptoms worsen or if the child’s inhaler is not helping after 15 minutes, if the child can not walk or talk well, nostrils open wide, chest or neck is pulled in or their lips are blue. Give Rescue Medication again while waiting for the ambulance.

The Asthma Action Plan can be customized by your child’s Health Care Provider. It can serve as an information tool, communication tool, and an action planning tool between the Health Care Provider and Daycare, School, or Summer Camp.

If you would like a copy of the Finger Lakes Asthma Action Plan please contact our Chronic Disease Coordinator with your mailing address.

Christy L. Richards R.N., B.S.N, Chronic Disease Coordinator
1-585-396-4558
christy.richards@co.ontario.ny.us

June 2009