Sending a child with asthma to school requires a little extra planning and paperwork. As the new school year starts, double-check these precautions to ensure the safety and health of your asthmatic child.

1.Fill Prescriptions That Stay at School

While this step seems a no-brainer--and for you it probably is--the last 2 years I have found myself holding an almost-empty Albuterol inhaler on orientation morning. I am usually scrambling to get a last-minute prescription for a new one filled by the first day of school.

Remember to visit the pharmacy for extra inhalers or any other prescriptions your child takes during the day before school starts.

2. Get an Asthma Action Plan on File

Asthma Action Plans give your child's teachers a step-by-step method for treating asthma flares. Keeping one on file at the school ensures the nurse will not have to guess about your child's inhaler or nebulizer treatments, wasting valuable seconds during severe flares. Schools usually distribute copies of the plan to any educator or administrator in regular contact with your child, but make sure it�s not your responsibility to get those copies out.

3. Start Maintenance Medication at the Right Time

Maintenance steroids take a few weeks to build up to effective levels. If your child uses a controller inhaler like Flovent only during the school year, start treatments early enough to reach full effect at the right time. Viral and cold triggers, for example, usually warrant a start time of September to ensure protection by October. For allergy triggers set off by the school environment, you'd start the steroids approximately three weeks before the first day of school. If you have a child entering school or using a maintenance inhaler for the first time this year, the pediatrician can give you the proper start date.

4. Know Your School's Inhaler Laws

If your child has severe asthma and must carry her own inhaler, make sure you have the correct permissions and doctor's notes on file at the school. Check your state's right-to-carry laws for inhaler regulations.

5. Schedule a Parent/Teacher Conference

After you complete the correct paperwork and check medications into the clinic, it's a good idea to give the new teacher a heads-up about your child's asthma. Explain when your child is likely to need her inhaler, how you will contact the teacher or school if inhaler use changes, and what emergency flare symptoms your child exhibits. Good communication makes you and the teacher feel confident about your child's health during school hours.


Got any tips of your own? Post them in the forum or email me, and I'll include them in another back-to-school article.


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"Smile, breathe and go slowly." -Thich Nhat Hanh



This article is not written by a medical professional, and information on this page should never be substituted for your physician's advice. If you have any questions about your asthma and/or allergies, you should always contact your physician first.