Your written asthma action plan

Your plan should name regular controller medicines, show when and how to use a reliever, describe your usual level of control, and set out what changes suggest deterioration. If peak flow is part of monitoring, the action ranges should be based on your own baseline and written clearly.

The instructions should distinguish routine management, early worsening and an emergency. They also need contact details for appropriate help and a review date. A generic checklist cannot safely choose doses for you; medication changes belong in a plan agreed with a qualified clinician.

Keep a readable copy where you can reach it and save another on your phone. Share it with family or carers, and provide relevant instructions to a child's school or nursery. Check that the listed inhalers match the medicines you currently have and that you can demonstrate the correct technique.

Review the document after a flare, an urgent visit, a medicine change, pregnancy, or a meaningful shift in triggers or symptoms. Take it to routine appointments and ask the clinician to replace vague wording with exact actions. Check medicine supplies and expiry dates so the plan can be followed when needed.

Use the emergency section immediately for severe breathlessness, difficulty speaking, blue or grey lips, confusion, fainting, exhaustion, or rapid worsening. Contact emergency services if the plan directs you to do so or if reliever treatment is not producing the expected improvement.

Do not exceed written medicine instructions while waiting to see what happens. Sit upright, stay with the affected person, use prescribed emergency treatment as directed and arrange medical reassessment after a significant flare, even when symptoms settle.

Confirm which inhaler is the controller and which is the reliever, what symptom changes should trigger each action, and whether peak flow belongs in your plan. Ask whom to contact outside clinic hours, when follow-up is due after worsening, and how instructions change during exercise, travel or a respiratory infection.