School being a bit casual with regards to dd inhaler and assuming she will ask for it.

[Snowmaggedon]

I've tried to explain this strange thing my dd gets to me the school and obviously it's not sunk in.
I asked them to the other day to give her the inhaler at lunch and they didn't. My dd asked a staff member and they didn't give it.

It's super rare for dd to proactively ask for it as she's not asmatic. It's a strange thing that's happened twice when she's gone down hill fast and immediate rushed through to a and e and strait on nebs and steroids.

How do I make it clear she won't ask usually they need to give it... If I've asked for them too

The school should be managing this a lot better, but it does sound like you need to be a lot more proactive at following up every incident.
That's a question to ask the Head in a formal meeting - how do they ensure that all staff looking after your DD know about her condition? What went wrong when she wasn't given the inhaler as directed? What went wrong when the TA didn't let her have it? How can you & the school make sure it doesn't happen again?

I have tired smoggle, making sure teachers know, repeated myself in speeches in office, put it in writing..

I know this sounds silly but I'm scared of the head. She's notoriously unpleasant. She's the most unpleasant person I've ever dealt with. Of course I will do whatever it takes but even the thought makes me feel ill.

They are just so causal about it.

Contact the school nurse and get them on side.

I'd also formally complain.

To be honest though, if you can't trust the school to keep her safe I would move to a different school.

Where do I follow up to. The head every time?

I thought I had followed it up when I said to the staff member who didn't pass it on... I also said ta was told and didn't give it.. Lady was sort of rushing off somewhere else and said. Oh yes I wouldn't neccsarily be at desk

Who else do I tell! She didn't even seem bothered that ta didn't follow it up

Thanks smoggle.

I will definalty contact nurse and see what else I can do.

You could be waiting forever for a school nurse to contact you. I did. 3 years to be precise. Tye service is hugely stretched.

They need a care plan, no excuses, it doesn't matter what the condition is called. Its also not brain surgery. I do them all the time they are so important.

Call the head and point out that children have died because they didn't have access to their inhaler. Insist a workable plan be put in place. Don't be intimidated. I personally remind myself that the head teacher is not my head teacher (who I was once terrified of) but We are two adults discussing an issue and looking for a conclusion.

Colours what I'd the difference between a care plan and what they already do.

Ie have dd name on wall in office and inhaler for her.

What if it's at lunch time this happens... Should lunch time patrollers get told as well? Ie information passed round to all staff who have her?

Not all areas have school nurses anymore sadly.

It can also be difficult getting an actual diagnoses for asthma rather than “wheeze” as they need so many incidents within a certain timeframe

You could ask GP for an asthma review - ds has one twice a year with a trained asthma nurse. His asthma nurse then types out a care plan for him.

You can download a generic care plan from asthma U.K. website.
www.asthma.org.uk/advice/child/manage/action-plan/
It’s the same as what the nurse gives my son, but she is able to edit the document to personalise it.

Also your DD should be using the brown preventer daily this time of the year - particularly if needing the blue inhaler 3 or more times a week.

Thanks water I will call docs as well to get her seen.
I've been given little guidance from anyone on this it's awful.

I've just been told give blue and that should help.

She was last hospitalised two years ago.

I've been given lots of avenues to follow up with.

Docs re asthma in general.. (it's only when she gets chesty cough it seems to be issue... She's not gasping but she wasn't when admitted to hospital..)

See if we have school nurse

Ask about care plans

Etc speak to head.

The care plans I write are documents that detail when the medication is needed, how much, who administers it and who administers it if the first person is off. They also contain details of the child's condition, what to look out for and what staff should do in the event of an emergency. This includes who gets called and in what order, who goes in the ambulance and permission to make urgent medical decisions if necessary.

The key here though isn't the plan....it's ensuring it is actioned. So every member of staff who comes into contact with the child however infrequently is made aware of it. It is easily accessible with a sign in the classroom, staff room, kitchen etc so that anyone who is providing cover knows it exists and they need to familiarise themselves with it. Lunchtime staff should absolutely be aware.

You need a solid procedure...I have children who could die if their medication isn't administered when it needs to be.

Yes, I would follow it up with the Head every time - specifically ask what went wrong, why wasn't the plan followed, what will now be done differently.
Take someone with you to take notes.
Stress the seriousness and don't downplay anything by saying it's not asthma or it's not really a medical condition.
Email back to confirm everything agreed in writing.

You perhaps need to think back to exactly what happened when she was admitted to hospital - asthma uk have plans you can print off.

If she is tugging at her neck and has recession of her tummy muscles then it’s likely her resp rate will be fast and she will struggle to talk/eat etc usually Ten puffs of ventolin will be given and if she requires it again within 4 hours she should be seen by a medical professional in a gp surgery or hospital. When was she last in hospital did she have a cough:cold whilst this episode occurred as it’s very common for kids to get a viral induced wheeze but never go on to have asthma but require ventolin and preventer inhalers during the winter months.

Go back to your gp discuss with them what hospital wrote in your discharge letter and what to do going forward with care at home/school. And make it clear to school if she asks for her inhaler she must have it & they should contact you.

Kay it seems to be cough that was trigger and time of year perhaps. At hospital they said could be the air and time of year.

i got my son's primary to take notice by keeping him off school whenever I thought he might have an asthma attack, after he had one at nearly hometime and nobody had noticed he was grey when I got there.

His attendance got down to 70% and I started getting frantic phonecalls about why he wasn't being sent to school, so I broken-recorded "You nearly killed him. Until I can be sure you won't make the same mistake again, he will be at home with me if there is any doubt at all about his breathing. WHEN I trust you, THEN I will let you make judgement calls."

My son (4.5) has since last September developed a viral induced wheeze, as we found out after two A&E admissions for a high respitory rate and chest sucking in when breathing etc. Now he has the blue preventer inhaler and spacer and school have his care plan (2 puffs if he is coughing for a while or sounds short of breath, can’t complete a sentence etc) and they’ve basically said they’d call me if they needed to administer it anyway) and he has an inhaler and spacer there. Is your daughter still under an asthma nurse? Because we had an appointment in December at the hospital where I answered questions about how often we’d needed it etc and have been given an appointment in May for the asthma clinic, and he isn’t ‘officially’ asthmatic either but they continue to monitor (and we’ve needed inhalers a couple of times since so will be continuing to have appointments). Email the head stating that your daughters care plan hasn’t been followed and you need to to have a meeting with her teacher or someone who is in charge of monitoring the pupils medication. I find for my son coming in from cold break times when he has a cold can spark it off and his teacher watches out for a persistent cough.

Whilst your DD may not have been diagnosed with asthma it sounds like she has had similar treatment - inhalers steroids etc. It also sounds like it can come on abruptly and seriously.
I would suggest you make an appointment with your GP or respiratory practice nurse and ask them to clarify the diagnosis and to write up a management plan for your DD to use at home and the staff at school. It would make the problem more official and they should take it more seriously. Something like this

www.asthma.org.uk/advice/manage-your-asthma/action-plan/

Have you got a care plan written down from gp/hospital? If not ask your gp to fill one out for you and one out that you can give to the school, the mask they keep losing isnt nessaserily needed anymore now shes 6, my son is 4 and put his mouth around the spacer, you could also tell them to listen out if her breathing sounds strugged, if they are still careless i would right a complaint to the head teacher because they cannot ignore it as all written complaints have to be kept safe and be seen by whoever is above them

Most likely time of year, my son is asthmatic and used to just cough at the start of an attack but now he also wheezes and feels tight currently he’s feeling wheezy so had his inhaler and feels better.

Speak to school get it in writing and if she has another episode at home write down how she is I.e fast breathing, colour, doesn’t speak/eat etc not sure teachers etc would notice she was ill just with tiredness or glassy eyes so be specific and tell them to contact you if they aren’t sure. Mine are great and he’s able to ask for his inhaler and the teacher knows him well as he’s been in that class for 2 years.

OP - this is very poor on the part of the school. My 3yo in nursery needs inhalers when he gets frequent chest infections. He doesn't have asthma. I take in inhalers every day and ask them to give him them if he needs them (eg he gets wheezy).
They do this.

It's simply not good enough if they don't

You need to go back to your GP as this treatment of a cough/infection isn't right. I have had asthma all my life and as a poster has said above blue inhalers are relievers, meaning it relieves symptoms of asthma, breathlessness and an attack. It is not a long term medication and should not be given each lunchtime regardless of her breathing as you are telling the staff at the school. Even peoole with diagnosed asthma dont take blue inhalers every day. You need a brown preventive inhaler for that.

This from from asthma.org website:

"A preventer (brown) inhaler is for every day. It works in the background to calm down the inflammation and sensitivity in your airways. If you take your preventer inhaler every day as prescribed, you’re less likely to react to triggers and get asthma symptoms. And you'll be less at risk of an asthma attack.

If you need to use your reliever inhaler three times a week or more, it's a sign your asthma isn’t well managed. You should see your GP or asthma nurse urgently for anasthma review"

Thanks Russel.it's not everyday.
It's the type of cough and if I hear slight wheeze.
So I give her 2 puffs am. Ask school to give at lunch and I give before bed.

She's had cough for about 7 days. It was last wed I started to ask for inhaler to be given.

As precaution..

Sorry its taken not everyday.
So far this winter she's had nothing. I think the last time we started it was last April.. Around then. Only few days

Has a doctor told you to give 3 times a day like that? Just doesn't seem the right treatment for her. Go on the asthma website and read up. I'd definitely go back to GP. I'm no expert but it sounds like she does have asthma and the brown inhaler would help keep off these episodes. Brown only needs morning and night dosage.

Yes I will definalty go back.

Since we have done this though she's not been back in hospital touch wood!!

My ds has inhaler kept at school, but not used regularly at all. Actually, I don't think he needed that for last few years at school.
But it is on his care plan, and it's always kept in the office in case he needs it.
We have to renew the care plan every year.