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Some useful links

Before I give a bit of background on our experience with asthma, I thought I'd add a couple of useful links. Firstly, Asthma UK are an incredible charity and have a great website, excellent resources and knowledgeable asthma nurses on the end of the phone between Monday and Friday. I think that BootsWedMD is also a good site which shows appreciation for the differing types of asthma symptoms and explains quite clearly the stages of an attack which I think is particularly important when caring for a child with asthma as they cannot necessarily tell you how they are feeling and what's happening to them.  

Something that's been really invaluable to us is the under 5's Personal Asthma Action plan available here from Asthma UK along with action plans for older children. It's very important to keep the plan current in consultation with your GP or asthma nurse, but in the middle of the night when you're at your wits end wondering which course of action to take next, getting the plan out and working through it feels like you have a semblance of calm control.

There's a useful (if quite technical) page on Patient.co.uk which gives information on breathing rates per minute for babies, toddlers and young children (respiratory rates can increase dramatically during an asthma attack, but as kids breath fast and babies faster it's sometimes a job to tell how fast is fast), as well as all sorts of other advice which is aimed at healthcare professionals. I find this useful as you get an idea of what the doctors are looking for and some basis for the decisions they make when faced with your child's asthma attack.

I'll add more links as I think of and find them.



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