The Handoff Pack (Free Download)

The person standing next to your child when a flare starts is usually not you. It is a grandparent, a sitter, a sleepover host, a teacher, a coach. Caring is not the same as knowing, so this is the knowing, made portable. Fill it in on a calm day and send the right part with your child: Part 1 for anyone who watches them informally, Part 2 for the school. The reasoning is in Caring Isn't the Same as Knowing and The Plan Has to Go Where the Child Goes.

Part 1: The one-page brief (for a grandparent, sitter, or sleepover)

Send a copy whenever your child stays somewhere without you. Here is what a filled-in one reads like, so you can steal the shape. The printable below is the blank version with these same fields.

Mia's asthma, what you need to know

What it is, in one line: Mia's airways are sensitive and can tighten and fill up. It is there even on good days, which is why the daily medicine matters even when she seems fine.

The two inhalers (they are not the same):

• 🟤 Daily / controller: the purple inhaler, once every morning after breakfast, even when well. Do not skip it.
• 🔵 Rescue / reliever: the blue inhaler, only for a flare, 2 puffs through the spacer.

Early signs to watch for: coughing that will not settle · wheezing · waking from sleep · needing the rescue inhaler · pulling out of play to breathe.

If you see those: give the rescue inhaler (2 puffs, spacer), stay calm, and watch. If it settles, note when and how many puffs. Then call me.

Where things are: rescue inhaler and spacer in the front pocket of her overnight bag · daily controller in the toiletry kit · the written action plan folded behind the inhaler.

The well-meant things that actually hurt (please avoid): do not tell her to "push through" a flare · do not skip the daily inhaler because she seems fine · do not smoke anywhere near her, ever.

Contacts: Mom's cell first · Dad's cell as backup · the clinic's nurse line, all three written on the plan itself.

Part 2: The school packet (fill at the start of the year)

Do this at the start of the school year, and again with any new teacher, coach, or after-school program, so the plan does not stay home while your child does not.

The start-of-year packet (what to file). Hand these to the school nurse, and make sure the classroom teacher has copies of the starred items.

• ☐ ★ A signed, dated asthma action plan (the action plan), renewed this year.
• ☐ ★ A clearly labeled rescue inhaler and spacer (a second one kept just for school, so home is never without).
• ☐ Controller medicine, if any is given during school hours, with instructions.
• ☐ A short trigger list for this child (cold air, exercise, specific allergens).
• ☐ Emergency contacts, in priority order, with a backup number.
• ☐ Written permission for self-carry / self-administer if your child is ready and your state or school allows (see the access checklist).
• ☐ A photo of the child clipped to the plan (helps substitutes).

Brief-the-teacher script (tap the block to copy, paste into a text or email):

Hi [teacher], [child] has asthma. Quick version so you are set if anything comes up:

- What it is: their airways are sensitive and can tighten, usually triggered by [triggers]. Most days it is a non-issue.
- Watch for: coughing that will not settle, wheezing, trouble keeping up, or pulling out of play to breathe.
- If that happens: [child] uses their blue rescue inhaler, [self-carries it / where it is kept]. Two puffs through the spacer usually settles it.
- Call me or 911 if: the inhaler is not helping, they cannot speak in full sentences, or lips or skin look blue or gray. That is an emergency, give the inhaler and call.
- The full one-page plan is with the nurse and attached here. My number: [your number]. Thank you.

Rescue-medication access checklist. The inhaler does no good locked two hallways away. Confirm:

• ☐ You know exactly where the rescue inhaler lives during the school day, and so does your child.
• ☐ It is reachable in minutes by whoever is with the child (classroom, gym, field, bus).
• ☐ Self-carry permission on file (if age, skill, and rules allow), so the child can carry and use their own inhaler.
• ☐ The coach and any after-school staff know where it is and what a flare looks like.
• ☐ A note in the substitute folder with the one-line plan and where the inhaler is.
• ☐ Ask whether the school stocks undesignated albuterol for any student in distress, and if so, that staff are trained to use it.

Where this fits: operationalizes Caring Isn't the Same as Knowing and The Plan Has to Go Where the Child Goes. The recognition signs match What Working to Breathe Looks Like, and the plan is the action plan. Part of The Asthma Toolkit.

Make it yours, then print it. The printable is the blank version of the brief above, with fields for the two inhalers, the puff count, where things live, and the contacts. Fill it in on a calm day from your own action plan. It prints on two clean pages, Part 1 and Part 2, so you can hand the brief to a sitter or grandparent and file the school packet separately, no cutting required.

Keep it on your phone, then just share it. Paper is perfect for the fridge and the school file, but the drop-off itself usually happens with your hands full. So keep a copy where your thumb already is. Type the Part 1 brief once into a note on your phone, or save the filled PDF to your Files, and you are set. When you hand your child off, open it and tap Share, then pick the sitter or the teacher and send. No new app, no login, nothing to build. The whole point of filling it once on a calm day is that the busy-day version is a two-tap send, not a scramble. Update the note whenever a dose or a contact changes, and the next share is current.