 I'm Mike. I have asthma. This is a video about rescue inhalers and how to use them. A rescue inhaler is used when your asthma is getting worse. You may be coughing and having trouble breathing. The rescue inhaler, which is also called a bronchodilator, rescues your airways when they're under attack and it works fast. You can imagine a rescue inhaler is working the same way that first aid cream works when you have a cut. It helps you feel better fast. There are different ways to use a rescue inhaler. Your doctor has decided which one is right for you. Here's how to use it with an open mouth. Today, Mike has basketball practice. He used his rescue inhaler before he left. How are you? Mike's mom couldn't take him, so a friend did. Mike's mom didn't know that the friend smoked. As Mike got into the car, he smelled the smoke and tried to ignore it. But the smoke made his asthma worse. Soon after he started to practice, his chest felt tight and he started to cough. Mike knows that these are stop signs. Whenever Mike has a stop sign, he uses his rescue inhaler. He takes two puffs from the inhaler. Here's how you should use your rescue inhaler. Take the cap off and shake the inhaler several times. Stand up and look straight ahead. Put three fingers in front of your mouth. Hold the mouthpiece behind your fingers. Now take your fingers away. Breathe out. Open your mouth wide. As you begin to breathe in, press down on the canister and continue to breathe in slowly and deeply. Hold your breath and count to ten slowly. Take a few normal breaths and repeat these steps for your second puff. Replace the cap on the inhaler when you are done. At the end of the day, be sure to fill in your diary with the number of puffs you used that day. Another thing that's important to do is to keep your rescue inhaler clean. Cleaning your rescue inhaler is easy. There are two parts to the inhaler. The mouthpiece and the canister. Only the mouthpiece has to be cleaned. I wash the mouthpiece with warm water and soap. Then I rinse it and dry it with a towel or I just let it dry by itself. Every week, I clean my rescue inhaler and check to see if it is full. Here's how I do it. First, I make sure there's water in the bowl so that the canister will float. See this canister? It's at the bottom of the bowl. That means it's full. If it floats, I know it's almost empty. See this one? It's half full. Remember, it is very important to use your rescue inhaler the right way. It'll make you feel better fast. I'm Mike. I have asthma. This is a video about rescue inhalers and how to use them. A rescue inhaler is used when your asthma is getting worse. You may be coughing and having trouble breathing. The rescue inhaler, which is also called a bronchodilator, rescues your airways when they're under attack and it works fast. You can imagine a rescue inhaler is working the same way that first aid cream works when you have a cut. It helps you feel better fast. There are different ways to use a rescue inhaler. Your doctor has decided which one is right for you. Today, Mike has basketball practice. He used his rescue inhaler before he left. Hi. How are you? Mike's mom couldn't take him, so a friend did. Mike's mom didn't know that the friend smoked. As Mike got into the car, he smelled the smoke and tried to ignore it. But the smoke made his asthma worse. Soon after he started to practice, his chest felt tight and he started to cough. Mike knows that these are stop signs. Whenever Mike has a stop sign, he uses his rescue inhaler. He takes two puffs from the inhaler. Here's how you should use your rescue inhaler. Take the cap off and shake the inhaler several times. Stand up and look straight ahead. Breathe out. Put the inhaler in your mouth and close your lips around it. As you begin to breathe in, press down on the canister and continue to breathe in slowly and deeply. Hold your breath and count to ten slowly. Take a few normal breaths and repeat these steps for your second puff. Replace the cap on the inhaler when you are done. At the end of the day, be sure to fill in your diary with the number of puffs you use that day. Another thing that's important to do is to keep your rescue inhaler clean. Cleaning your rescue inhaler is easy. There are two parts to the inhaler, the mouthpiece and the canister. Only the mouthpiece has to be cleaned. I wash the mouthpiece with warm water and soap. Then I rinse it and dry it with a towel or I just let it dry by itself. Every week I clean my rescue inhaler and check to see if it is full. Here's how I do it. First, I make sure there's water in the bowl so that the canister will float. See this canister? It's at the bottom of the bowl. That means it's full. If it floats, I know it's almost empty. See this one? It's half full. Remember, it is very important to use your rescue inhaler the right way. It'll make you feel better fast. I'm Mike. I have asthma. This is a video about rescue inhalers and how to use them. A rescue inhaler is used when your asthma is getting worse. You may be coughing and having trouble breathing. The rescue inhaler, which is also called a bronchodilator, rescues your airways when they're under attack and it works fast. Oh, it's a clear bear. You can imagine a rescue inhaler is working the same way that first aid cream works when you have a cut. It helps you feel better fast. There are different ways to use a rescue inhaler. Your doctor has decided which one is right for you. Today, Mike has basketball practice. He used his rescue inhaler before he left. How are you? Mike's mom couldn't take him, so a friend did. Mike's mom didn't know that the friend smoked. As Mike got into the car, he smelled the smoke and tried to ignore it. But the smoke made his asthma worse. Soon after he started to practice, his chest felt tight and he started to cough. Mike knows that these are stop signs. Whenever Mike has a stop sign, he uses his rescue inhaler. He takes two puffs from the inhaler. Here's how you should use your rescue inhaler. Take the caps off of your rescue inhaler and spacer. Put the inhaler mouthpiece into the wide rubber end of the spacer. Shake the inhaler and spacer several times. Breathe out. Put the spacer in your mouth, press down on the canister, and breathe in slowly. Hold your breath and count to ten slowly. Take a few normal breaths and repeat these steps for your second puff. Replace the cap on the inhaler and spacer when you are done. At the end of the day, be sure to fill in your diary with the number of puffs you use that day. Another thing that's important to do is to keep your rescue inhaler clean. Cleaning your rescue inhaler is easy. There are two parts to the inhaler, the mouthpiece and the canister. Only the mouthpiece has to be cleaned. I washed the mouthpiece with warm water and soap. Then I rinse it and dry it with a towel or I just let it dry by itself. Every week I clean my rescue inhaler and check to see if it is full. Here's how I do it. First I make sure there's water in the bowl so that the canister will flow. See this canister? It's at the bottom of the bowl. That means it's full. If it floats, I know it's almost empty. See this one? It's half full. When you clean your rescue inhaler, you should clean your air chamber too. To clean the air chamber, first you rinse the flap valve on the back. You just run warm water through the back and then shake out all the water when you're done. Then dry it with a towel or let it air dry by itself. Remember, it is very important to use your rescue inhaler the right way. It'll make you feel better fast. I have asthma. In this video, we'll show you how to use a peak flow meter. Peak flow monitoring is easy. A peak flow meter can help you manage asthma. This is an assessed peak flow meter. Just like a thermometer measures your body temperature, a peak flow meter measures how fast you can blow air out of your lungs. High peak flow numbers show you that your breathing is good. Low numbers mean you're having trouble with your breathing. You will use your peak flow meter before you take your asthma medicine. It's important for you to use your peak flow meter correctly. Using it every day will help you and your doctors see how you are doing. Using a peak flow meter is easy. First, push the white mouthpiece into the hole. Then slide the red button down to the red bar. Stand up and take a deep breath in. Be sure to close your lips around your mouthpiece. Now blow out hard and fast. Then watch the red button go up. Look at the number next to the red button. Now go through these same steps two more times. Be sure to slide the red button down to the red bar before each blow. Right down in your diary, the highest peak flow number of the three that you blew. My best number was 400. Anna uses her peak flow meter every night after she brushes her teeth. It's good to connect it with something she does every night. Anna blows three times. She thinks it's fun to see how high she can make the red button go. After she's done, she writes the highest number in her diary. Even though I'm the only person that uses my peak flow meter, I still need to be sure that it's clean every week. I take the mouthpiece out of the peak flow meter and then rinse it with warm water. I shake up the extra water and put it on a clean towel to dry before I used again. You can think of peak flow monitoring as an asthma traffic light, giving you a green light for normal activity, a yellow light telling you to slow down, or red light means stop. You are having trouble with your asthma. The camp staff will label your peak flow meter with the same colors as a traffic light. These are called zones. They'll tell you how well you are breathing. And blow hard! Hard! Good! Remember, these zones are really important. They'll tell you if your breathing is okay, or if you're having trouble and need to follow your action plan. If you use your rescue inhaler and your peak flow numbers stay in the yellow or red zone, you need to follow your action plan. As you can see, labeling your meter with zones and colors is helpful. It's easy to use a peak flow meter. It helps you control your asthma. Once you get into the habit of using your peak flow meter, you'll know what to do for your asthma. Your peak flow meter can help you understand what's happening with your asthma and how to control the situation. It works! I'm Andrew. Andrew's mom, have you ever been in a fire drill before? It helps you know what to do in case there's a fire. Action plans are like fire drills. Action plans help you prepare for when your asthma is getting worse. There are two important things to know in your action plan. Signs and peak flow numbers. You need to be prepared by knowing your signs and peak flow numbers and how to put them together in an action plan. Signs are things to watch for. Signs mean your asthma is getting worse. I'm allergic to dogs and sometimes they cause cautions. My cautions signs are scratchy throat, itchy eyes and feeling kind of tired. Other kids might have different cautions signs. When you have cautions signs, slow down and try to get away from whatever is making your asthma worse. If you can, use your peak flow meter. I rest when I have cautions signs. But when I have stop signs, I know my asthma is worse. If you have any stop signs, use your rescue inhaler until an adult, vast. Now let's talk about peak flow zones. Watch for signs, but also watch for peak flow numbers. Peak flow numbers fall on the green, the yellow and the red zone. See? Remember, green means go, yellow means slow down and red means stop. In the green zone, everything's okay. You can do whatever you want. Yellow means slow down, use your rescue inhaler, follow your action plan. Red means stop, use your rescue inhaler, follow your action plan and tell an adult right away. Now let's put the signs and peak flow numbers together in the action plan. Hi, my name is Shawnee. My little brother George has asthma. Sometimes I help him use his action plan. Let's watch George use his action plan. First, tell someone who can help you. If something is making your asthma worse, move away. If you can, use your peak flow meter. If your peak flow number is in the yellow or red zone or you are having stop signs, take two puffs of your rescue inhaler. If your number is in the yellow zone, wait 20 minutes. Then use your peak flow meter again if you can. George's sister helped him use his action plan. George was in the yellow zone and his rescue inhaler made him feel better fast. So he went back to play. Now let's see Dane follow his action plan when he's in the red zone. Remember, always tell an adult who can help and move away from whatever might be making your asthma worse. Then take your peak flow if you can. If your peak flow number is in the yellow or red zone or you are having stop signs, take two puffs of your rescue inhaler. If your number is in the red zone, wait five minutes. Then check your peak flow again right away. You may need more medicine. Always remember to follow your action plan. Call your clinic if you have any questions. I was playing outside on recess. I started coughing and having a bad time breathing. These are asthma stop signs. I told my teacher, he knows my action plan. Since I was having stop signs, I used my rescue inhaler. I was feeling better and my stop signs went away. My teacher helped me take care of my asthma so it didn't get worse. When I got home, I wrote on my diary. Last week, I was sick at home with a cold. Sometimes colds make my asthma worse. I was coughing and my chest felt tight. Come on, Andrew. I told my mom and I used my peak flow meter. My peak flow was in the red zone so I used my rescue inhaler. I waited five minutes then used my peak flow meter. My mom was helping me. I used my rescue inhaler again because my peak flow meter was in the yellow zone. This time I waited 20 minutes before I used my peak flow meter again. This time my peak flow meter was in the green zone. My mom and I wrote this in my diary. While Andrew had a cold, his peak flow number kept dropping into the yellow zone. He needed to use the rescue inhaler every four hours to control his symptoms and keep his peak flow in the green zone. After 24 hours of this, I called the camp office to see if Andrew needed to start prednisone or another type of medicine. I'm feeling better now and I'm going back to school. I always have my peak flow meter but I watch for signs and I follow my action plan. When my dad took me to the zoo, I loved to go see the polar bears. While we were there, I started coughing and I was freezing. We stopped and I used my rescue inhaler. My inhaler made me feel better and my stop signs went away. I got to stay and see all the animals at the zoo. When we got home, we wrote everything in my diary. Can you see how everyone used their action plans when their asthma got worse? They were prepared because they knew their signs and peak flow numbers. They could put their signs and peak flow numbers together in the action plan. You can do the same thing. Let's review some action plan guidelines. The rescue inhaler is used for stop signs, peak flows in the yellow and red zones, and before exercise. The clinic should be called if peak flows are in the red zone after using the rescue inhaler. Stop signs do not improve or the peak flow is still not in the green zone after using the rescue inhaler three times in one hour. If the rescue inhaler is needed more than every four hours, remember this does not include the first hour of treatment or if the rescue inhaler is needed every four hours for 24 hours. You should go straight to the emergency room at the first sign of blue lips or blue fingernails when struggling for air or if you see any retractions. That means the skin is sinking in between the ribs when breathing. You can be prepared with your action plan. Ask your mom or dad to help you get started.