Asthma

We are happy to care for a child who has asthma, and have put together the following policy and procedures. We recognise that asthma is an important condition that affects many children.

We will:

• Encourage and help children with asthma to participate fully in activities
• Ensure children have immediate access to reliever inhalers
• Ensure the environment is favourable to children with asthma
• Ensure that other children in our care understand that asthma can be serious
• Ensure that we know what to do if a child has an asthma attack, and to protect the child’s welfare in the event of an emergency
• Work with parents of children with asthma to ensure that their child(ren) are in a safe and caring environment

We will ask the parent(s)/carer(s) to tell us about their child(ren)’s asthma symptoms, how to recognise when their symptoms are getting worse, and how to help them take their reliever medicine. We will record this information on the child’s personal record form.

We will allow children with asthma immediate access to their reliever medicine whenever they need it. This may include allowing them to carry it on them either in their pocket or inhaler pouch, if they are mature enough to do this. We would request that we are also given an inhaler to keep at the setting, in case the child forgets to bring theirs with them, this will be clearly labelled with the child’s full name & date of birth.

Please let us know if your child needs to be reminded to take their inhaler and if they need to do it privately (We appreciate that some children are shy about taking their medication in front of others)

We will always inform parents if their child has experienced asthma symptoms and had to use their reliever medicine, this will be recorded on either the Accident/Incident record form or the Administering Medication form, or both, and will be signed off by the parent(s)/carers, and a copy given to the parent(s)/carers for their records.

If, after discussion between the parent(s)/carers and the doctor or nurse, it is believed that a particular child is too young to carry their inhaler, we will look after the child(ren)’s inhaler on their behalf.

We need parents to provide written information detailing:

• What asthma medicine the child takes and when, including the last time/date the medication was administered
• What triggers the child’s asthma and what to do if the child’s asthma gets worse, and time spans indicated before medical help is sought.
• Emergency contact details

We will ensure any spare medicines stored by us are clearly labelled, have not passed their expiry date, and are stored safely.