Effectiveness ofnebulised salbutamol administered inambulances topatients with severeacuteasthma

Background -Nebulised salbutamol can nowbeadministered byambulance personnelto patients withsevereacute asthmaenroutetohospital. Thistreatment,however, isnotyetavailable inall ambulances. Thesafety andeffectiveness ofallowing ambulance crewstoiniitiate treatment withnebulised salbutamol has beenassessed inpatients withacutesevere asthma. Methods-Afterabasic training course in theassessment ofasthmaandtheuseof a nebuliser, ambulancecrewsinitiated treatment withnebulised salbutamol in asthmatic patients undertheageof40 years. Airflow obstruction wasmeasured beforeandafter treatment witha peak flowmeter. Asubjective assessment ofany changeinthepatient's condition wasalso made. Results - Nebuliser treatment wasassociated withasignificant increase inpeak flowinalmost80%ofpatients whohad recordable values before andafter treatment.Themean percentage increase in peakflowwas 56'5%.Subjective assessments correlated wellwithpeakflow measurements. No unwantedsideeffects wererecorded. Conclusions -Nebulised salbutamol isan effective and safetreatment foracute asthmawhenadministered byambulance personnel after ashorttraining course. (Thorax 1995;50:81-82)