First Aid News - May 2007

Get an Asthma Plan & Reduce Hospital Admissions

Asthma UK, a charity has commented on the wide variations in statistics for the number of people who are admitted to hospital as asthma emergency cases. They feel that it is more a case of perception of of the severity of the emergency than actually having regions of the country where asthma is worse than others. People in the north west of England with asthma were 65% more likely to go to hospital than the south east.

Asthma sufferers who had an action plan to deal with an attack were most likely to be able to cope without a hospital admission. Such people with a plan are four times less likely to need emergency care.

An asthma victim can require special treatment by a first aider and ASTS can advise on how first aid can be given during an attack. Contact ASTS for details of training.