Asthma Action Plans

Section Leader: Cathy Benninger, RN, CNP

Many factors affect asthma control.  Treating asthma problems early can prevent asthma attacks. An asthma action plan provides specific instructions for early treatment of asthma symptoms.  It also provides guidelines for calling the doctor or going to the emergency room.  All asthma patients should have an asthma action plan to follow at home.  Children should also have an asthma action plan on file at daycare, school and extracurricular activities/sports. The plan should be reviewed during follow-up office visits and revised as needed.

There are many different versions of action plans available.  We have included a review article by Peter Gibson that outlines the essential components suggested for an action plan.  The following links offer free asthma action plans, school based action plans and several language translations.  We have reviewed each of these plans and believe they would all be valuable for clinical purposes.

• Review of Action Plans

• Adult Action Plans

• Pediatric Action Plans