Asthma and Auto-Injector Awareness for Schools and Childcare

A child coughs and wheezes on the playground. Another cannot finish a sentence in the sports hall. A spare adrenaline kit has been put in a locked cupboard. Moments like these can happen in any school, nursery or club. This course helps you notice them, know what the official guidance says, and know who to tell.

Who this course is for

• School and nursery staff, teaching assistants and lunchtime supervisors in England
• Childminders and their assistants
• Staff in breakfast clubs and after-school clubs, including supply, agency and volunteer staff
• Schools, nurseries and clubs that want all their staff to know the guidance on asthma and spare emergency medicines

What you’ll learn

• What asthma is, the everyday symptoms and common triggers, and what inhalers and spacers are
• The signs of an asthma attack, when to call 999, and the Department of Health steps for a school’s emergency inhaler
• Asthma plans, individual healthcare plans, consent, the asthma register and records
• The emergency salbutamol inhaler in schools: who can hold one, what the kit contains, and where it is kept and checked
• Spare adrenaline auto-injectors: who can hold them, where they are kept, who may be given one and what happens after use
• How asthma and anaphylaxis can overlap, trips, PE and clubs, new and supply staff, and a checklist for your setting

How it works

Six lessons, each split into short topics with a “Remember” box at the end. Every lesson finishes with its own assessment of 10 questions drawn at random from its question bank, so no two attempts are the same. The course ends with a final exam of 20 questions drawn from a bank of more than 40 covering everything. The pass mark is 80% and you get three attempts at each assessment. Finish the course and your certificate, with your name and a reference anyone can check, is issued to My Account → Certificates.

12 months’ access · any device · certificate the moment you pass

Worth being clear about: this course is awareness. It is not a qualification, it is not first aid training, and it is not medical advice. It does not teach how to use an inhaler or an adrenaline auto-injector and it gives no doses, so it does not replace the hands-on training your setting arranges, a child’s own healthcare plan or your setting’s policy. It is not an allergy course: our Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Awareness for Schools and Early Years course covers allergens and the signs and steps for anaphylaxis. It covers England; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland issue their own guidance.

Course content

• Before you startLesson
• Asthma: what it is and what to look forLesson
• What asthma isTopic
• Everyday asthma symptomsTopic
• TriggersTopic
• Inhalers and spacersTopic
• Cleaner air and fewer triggers in your settingTopic
• Who does what: schools, nurseries, childminders and clubsTopic
• Scenario: Cough on the playgroundTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Everyday symptom or sign of an attack?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Asthma: what it is and what to look forQuiz
• Recognising and responding to an asthma attackLesson
• The signs of an attackTopic
• Call an ambulance straight awayTopic
• What to do, step by stepTopic
• Keep the child company and keep calmTopic
• After the attackTopic
• When it may not be asthmaTopic
• Scenario: Breathless in the sports hallTopic
• 🎮 Practice: The response stepsTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Recognising and responding to an asthma attackQuiz
• Asthma plans, consent and recordsLesson
• The asthma action planTopic
• The individual healthcare plan (IHP)Topic
• Consent and the rules for medicinesTopic
• The asthma register and sharing informationTopic
• Recording every doseTopic
• Everyday practice: carrying inhalers, trips and unacceptable practiceTopic
• Scenario: A new pupil and a missing formTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Acceptable or not?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Asthma plans, consent and recordsQuiz
• The emergency salbutamol inhaler in schoolsLesson
• What the scheme isTopic
• Who can hold oneTopic
• The emergency kitTopic
• Where it is kept and who checks itTopic
• Who may be given itTopic
• After use, and the people behind itTopic
• Scenario: No inhaler in the sports fieldTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Who may be given the emergency inhaler?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: The emergency salbutamol inhaler in schoolsQuiz
• Spare adrenaline auto-injectors: keeping and using themLesson
• Two spare medicines, two sets of rulesTopic
• Where spare AAIs are kept, and who checks themTopic
• Who may be given a spareTopic
• After use, training and what may changeTopic
• Scenario: The cupboard that was lockedTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Spare AAI or emergency inhaler?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Spare adrenaline auto-injectors: keeping and using themQuiz
• Asthma and anaphylaxis together, and getting ready as a settingLesson
• Asthma and anaphylaxis: the linkTopic
• Trips, PE, clubs and the playgroundTopic
• New, supply, agency and volunteer staffTopic
• Recording and learningTopic
• Your setting’s checklistTopic
• Scenario: A cough at lunchTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Learning from an incidentTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Asthma and anaphylaxis together, and getting ready as a settingQuiz
• Course summaryLesson
• Final examQuiz