My 2 1/2 yo had a sever asthma attack...

On june 3rd, my son Xander was about 3 days into a cold when i noticed his breathing was getting more laboured. I couldnt find his spacer, and we had to leave our nebuliser behind in Perth (so we didnt use the spacer that much) I gave him 4 puffs of ventolin, then about 15 mins later, repeated it. Nothing, He was struggling to breathe. I couldnt remember him having ever been this bad. So i checked his rib resperations... He was sucking his ribs in so hard... I told my husband we're going to the hospital (it was 4am) And bundled him into the car. I should've just called an ambulance. By the time we got to Royal Childrens, he was barely breathing. I parked outside the entrance, grabbed him and ran inside. I was so worried i pushed in front of a couple of people. I put him on the counter, the nurse asked me what was wrong, i said he's asthmatic and he's barely breathing, and without listening, she just looked at his chest, and at him, and said into her little mike "Resus team to Trauma 1." I almost started crying right there. I grabbed him and carried him in the trauma, where they started following their plan for asthma... Ventolin (which didnt work, 6 puffs every 10 mins, just made him shaky and he vomited everywhere after a while) Pregnisolone (steriod) nebulisers... finally they put him on oxygen to help him out abit. His stomach was hurting as he was struggling to breathe so much. They put a numbing gel on his hands, for an iv, but it hadn't worked enough when they tried to put it in, he cried his little eyes out. Eventually he was moved out of trauma, into emergency, and admitted, but he had to wait 14 hours for a bed. He was in hospital for 3 days, and his asthma is now up and down... he constantly has colds (due to the beautiful melbourne weather he has not yet gotten used to) and that make him more suceptible to attacks. Im just glad i got him in when i did, his oxygen levels where below 90 when we got in there... Does Anyone else have a young child with severe asthma??

Hi! I'm a Melbourne Paramedic, and I feel for you. This happens to lots of little kiddies in winter, and we can help out a lot with oxygen and drugs before we get them to the hospital. I'm sure he is ok now, at least I hope he is, and that there isn't a reoccurance.

My wife has bad asthma. She had a cold about a month ago, bit of a chest infection. A friend came over to pick up something, and just from opening the front door and getting a blast of cold air, triggered a very bad attack. I was working, and happened to be in the area, and went to her. She was pretty bad, one of the worst I've seen for her. The other guys that were there thought it was pretty severe too, so it's not something to play around with.

Hope all is good now! Remember, 000 is a lifesaver!

Deano

I was a severe Asthmatic, until I took the time to do an Asthma awareness course & spent 3 months being monitored. I have since not used a Ventolin for atleast 4-5 yrs!
I now take 2 puffs in the morning of Seretide & I dont need my ventolin at all.

I have passed out due to an Asthma attack & noone around me knew what to do & I was unconcious.... Someone drove me to a hospital & I was immediately given some drugs (?)

As a baby I stopped breathing twice & was resuscitated both times in hospital.... My Mum & Dad used to offer me straight cordial to bring the phlegm up out of my lungs, but I would spent the dayus & nights wheezing & my back always hurt from the struggle to breath..

I do know that a family friend of my Mum & Dads had a son that was 16 & he had an asthma attack & they drove him to the hospital which was a 20 min drive away, but when they arrived he had died in the back seat of the car...
They nevewr forgave themselves & so my Mum & Dad stopped waitingtil it was really bad. They would take me to Dr's for a cough, it was better than the alternative!

I immediately get uneasy when my girls get a cold & am extra vigilant, I'd rather call an ambulance & be called a worry wart than lose my child....

Next time (& I hope there never is a next time) just call an ambulance!

*Deano there was somethingh in another post of yours a while ago I wanted to chat with you about, but have since forgotten!??? Nevermind!

*No worries Tracey, if you remember, PM me!

Deano

Theresa, not one other person in my family has it at all, including any of my cousins on either side?
Maddy so far has not shown any Asthmatic tendencies & she is almost 8...
I am hoping none of my kids get it... Coz it was & is frightening when having an attack.

Honestly I cannot emphasize enough to get seen sooner than later! Coz a 5 min drive to a hospital could result in a disaster!!!

Theresa, if your worried about yourself I'd definately ask at your DR regarding getting in to see an Asthma coocrdinator or something beacuse I was going through a ventolin every 2 wks! Now I bet mine are out of date!!!!

I'd rather be putting the 2 puffs daily into my system than the amount of ventolin I was pumping in... I also had a nebuliser machine at home & threw it out when we moved house as I hadnt used it for so long!!!
But if ever I felt wheezy & like the puffer wasnt controlling it, I'd call an ambulance ASAP... I'd so much rather have egg on my face for not needing an ambulance than being buried!!!

Trust me, being a paramedic, we would rather come to your house, make sure you were fine, then go on to the next job, than come to your house and find you in respiratory arrest! Can't tell you the number of times that has happened. Do you know what we do when someone is unable to be resuscitated due to asthma? We have to let them sit for one minute while all the trapped gas is helped be pushed out.....not nice just watching someone "die" in front of you.....but we usually get them back!

So call early for quick assistance! ;)

oh simone,im glad he is ok now,my god you have had alot on your plate.thinking of you.
nikki

Hey Simone,
firstly *hugs* to you and Xander..
we have just (well, been here 4 months now!) moved to Melbourne from Sydney, DP has asthma and at first we couldn't figure out why he'd been getting it so bad, after 2 trips to the emergency room we finally took him to a gp, who put him on a preventer, (we're still tweaking it - he still has to take ventolin a few times a week so we're getting a stronger preventer)
ANYHOO he had asked the doctor if he had any ideas why he has getting asthma so badly, and he said it was just coz it was so cold here..
Honestly didn't think it would be that much of a difference, but it must be..
(and DP wants to move to England one day! pfft :) )

OHHH.. and if you don't have ambulance cover, make sure you get it ASAP! Melbourne is stupid expensive for ambulance - our bill was just under $800! (it's under $200 in Sydney)
Ambulance cover is $110 per year for a family...