Illawarra asthmatics are being urged to get a spring action plan in place, with the region recording the fourth highest number of emergency call-outs for the condition in the state.
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NSW Ambulance figures show paramedics attended 3248 call-outs in the region for asthma concerns in the past two financial years. That was just lower than Western Sydney (4234 calls), south-west Sydney (3604) and central Sydney (3541).
In the last week alone 13 patients from Helensburgh to Warilla – aged from 20 to 88 – were transported by ambulance to hospital due to asthma complications.
Connie Katelaris, Professor of Immunology and Allergy at Western Sydney University, said the warmer months heightened the risk of asthma, allergies and hayfever due to an increase in pollen and other seasonal airborne allergens.
Professor Katelaris, who also heads the Sydney Pollen Count & Forecast website, said the peak period for grass pollen counts was over a four to six week period in October / November.
She said it was important for asthmatics to prepare by updating their management plan with their GP, using preventatives and having their reliever medications on hand.
‘’Importantly, people should also be treating their nasal allergy because if their allergic rhinitis is not well controlled they are more likely to have problems with their asthma,’’ she said.
‘’So it’s all about prevention for the upper airway and prevention for the lower airway.”
NSW Ambulance Zone Manager Illawarra, Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge, said asthmatics should understand what triggers their condition and either avoid them or have an effective plan in place to manage the symptoms.
‘’A serious asthma attack can be fatal in only minutes, so it is absolutely vital asthma sufferers carry their medication with them at all times, and call Triple Zero (000) should their symptoms become severe,” she said.
Spring weather also aggravates other less serious seasonal respiratory conditions – such as hayfever and other allergies – and Superintendent Radnidge said it was important people suffering from these access appropriate treatment.
‘’Hayfever and other allergies are certainly irritating but they are hardly life threatening. We need to make sure NSW Ambulance resources are used appropriately and effectively and not tied up with non-urgent situations,” she said.