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No Appointment Necessary - May 2026

Published Mon 01 Jun 2026
Asthma
Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world. Around 11% of the population are asthmatic and over 400 Australians die from asthma every year - although many of these deaths may have been preventable. Asthma sufferers have very sensitive upper airways and when they are exposed to  certain triggers, their airways narrow making it difficult for them to breathe. An asthma attack can take anything from a few minutes to a few days to develop.
 
An asthma attack can happen to anyone with asthma at any time, especially during high intensity sports like squash.  Do you know what to do if someone starts having an asthma attack in front of you?
 
WHAT TO DO
  • Do not wait until asthma symptoms are severe to start first aid.
  • Be calm and reassuring, and do not leave them alone.
  • If available, use a Blue Reliever puffer* and spacer as follows: Shake puffer, put one puff into spacer, take four breaths from spacer. Repeat four times.  
  • If no spacer is available, take one puff with a slow, deep breath and hold breath for as long as comfortable. Repeat four times.
  • Call an ambulance immediately if the person is not breathing, suddenly becomes worse, is not improving, has a known allergy to food or medication, or there is no access to a Blue Reliever puffer.
*Blue Reliever puffers are unlikely to cause harm in an emergency, even if the person does not have asthma.  It's a good idea to keep one in your club/centre's first aid kit, along with a spacer.  Just make sure they are cleaned thoroughly after each use.
 
Spacer (for Asthma Puffers). A spacer helps deliver asthma medication more effectively from a puffer to the lungs.
 
Squash WA strongly encourages all staff and volunteers around our clubs/centres, to complete or update their First Aid training.  Treatments and other information is changing all the time, so ensure you're up to date because it could mean saving someone's life.
 
Please also consider completing an Asthma Action Plan, particularly if you have a junior program.  You can download a copy of the plan from Asthma Australia here: https://asthma.org.au/manage-asthma/asthma-action-plan/.
 
More Info: Asthma Australia
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