Preparing for disasters when you have asthma

The weather has been a little crazy lately. 

Some parts of the U.S. are dry as a bone and plagued by wildfires and dangerous smoke.

Other areas of the U.S. are being battered by hurricanes, with crazy winds, rain and flooding.

No matter what part of the country you are in, how do you prepare when you have asthma?

I have been watching the national news stories on TV, showing empty shelves at the grocery store and long lines at the gas stations. 

Like my late father-in-law always used to say, "It costs just as much to fill up the top half of the gas tank as it does the bottom half!"

So, I try not to wait until my gas tank is on "empty" before I fill up. In fact, I know people that will fill up when their tank gets to the 1/2 way point.  

Allergy & Asthma Network has a list of things to help. 

• Stay on your schedule for taking medicine (it's easy to miss a dose, but can cause problems if you do)
• Medications - quick relief inhaler (Albuterol), daily controller inhaler (if you use one) and 2 epinephrine auto injectors (if you need those.)
• Nebulizer - some need power and others run on batteries. I have an adapter so I can run my nebulizer from my car (it plugs into the cigarette lighter.) Find out what your nebulizer needs.
• Bottled water, allergy free food (if you have food allergies) and cash to buy supplies  
• Medical records and refill information - if your medicine is lost, it may help in getting refills. Sometimes, you may need to pay cash for a refill if it's "too soon" for your insurance to refill it. But don't go without your medicine!
• N95 mask - can help protect your lungs 
• Medical alert bracelet/tag - this will help rescuers to know if you have asthma, food allergies, diabetes, etc
• Meeting place - where can you go if you need to evacuate? Do you have another family member's house you can go to? Church? School? If family members are split up, they will know where to meet. 

American Red Cross also has an Emergency Preparedness Checklist  

Remember to also keep calm (easier said than done - I know!) Since strong emotions are an asthma trigger, you could end up with an asthma attack on top of the stress of a natural disaster. 

Watch out for:

• Crying
• Fear
• Anger  
• Yelling
• Laughter
• Excitement

The weather can really surprise me sometimes, and it can catch you off guard. Make sure you are prepared for any sort of disaster that may come your way.