Can family members share a rescue inhale

Use each person's own prescribed reliever, with their own spacer, exactly as they were trained — and don't share an inhaler or spacer with anyone else in the house, even in a panic.

I'm not diagnosing anyone and I'm not changing any medicine. This is the safe-sharing and organisation guide for this week.

---

1. What you've already tried, and what works better

---

2. The hard rules (do not bend these)

• One person, one inhaler, one spacer. Not a sibling, not an adult in the house, not "just this once".
• Never swap, borrow, or hand over a device — even if the other person is "worse right now".
• Do not change, double, stop, or re-time anyone's medicine, and don't use a device that was prescribed for somebody else. Follow the label or the prescriber's instructions for the person it belongs to.
• No online prescription purchases, no sharing a dose, no "stronger" remedy, no mystery powders or borrowed inhalers as a substitute.
• Don't ration a person's own medicine out of worry about running out — request a repeat instead (see below).
• Don't make a sick person lie flat; don't delay going for help to check a home reading or a device number first.

---

3. Red flags — stop everything and get help now

Call your local emergency number now and ask for an ambulance if any of these are present:

• Can't finish a sentence, or can't speak in full sentences
• Blue or grey lips, or bluish fingertips
• Ribs, neck, or throat pulling in with each breath
• Sitting bolt upright, leaning forward, struggling to breathe
• Getting drowsy, floppy, confused, or unusually sleepy for them
• Breathing has gone quiet (little or no wheeze) while they are still unwell — silence is not improvement
• Face, tongue, or throat swelling after food, a sting, or a medicine
• Cannot walk to the door

Same-day review (phone the surgery, out-of-hours GP, or school nurse — not the emergency line):

• Needing the reliever more often than usual
• Night cough coming back, or sleep disturbed by coughing
• Missing school, or dropping usual activities
• Reliever being needed more than twice a week
• Running low on the inhaler, or the dose counter near empty

---

4. Decision tree

```
Is there a red flag above?
├─ YES → Call your local emergency number now, ask for an ambulance.
│ While waiting: sit them upright, keep them calm, use their OWN
│ reliever with their OWN spacer as trained, gather all their
│ devices, keep them upright, don't lay them flat.
│ Don't give anyone else's inhaler.
└─ NO → Is the person out of their own medicine?
├─ YES → Use an authorised route only: the out-of-hours GP service,
│ the pharmacy's emergency supply, the urgent treatment
│ centre, or the online emergency prescription service your
│ area uses. Tell me your country/city and I'll name the
│ right one. Never another person's inhaler.
└─ NO → Organise (steps 5 and 6). Then request a repeat and a
technique check.
```

---

5. Tonight / today: about 20 minutes

1. Three labelled zip bags (5 min). One per person: their name, their own reliever, their own spacer. Spacer inside with the inhaler. Nothing shared.
2. Note the device state (2 min). Write the dose counter reading, or the date you opened it, on the bag label — the pharmacist needs that, not you guessing.
3. Kitchen board (3 min). Write: *"Reliever and spacer stay with the named person. No sharing — even in an emergency."* One line, visible.
4. Request a repeat (5 min). Ask the pharmacy or surgery: can this inhaler be repeated on a regular schedule, and can the pharmacy dispense it directly when it's running low? Mention the technique check.
5. Message one person (2 min). Screenshot below.
6. Eat something (5 min). A simple meal already in the kitchen, plus water for the person who is unwell. A caregiver who has eaten makes better decisions.

---

6. Scripts you can screenshot

To another adult in the house:
> "Quick one so we're both doing the same thing: [Name]'s reliever and spacer stay with [Name] — no borrowing between us, even in a scare. If someone is struggling to breathe, call the ambulance service straight away, sit them upright, and use only their own inhaler as they've been shown. I'll book the repeat today."

To the pharmacy / surgery:
> "Hi — [Name]'s reliever is running low. Could we set up a repeat prescription, and can the pharmacy dispense it when it's nearly empty? Also, could [Name] have an inhaler technique check with the spacer?"

To a neighbour or relative covering a shift:
> "Just so you know: one inhaler, one spacer, one person — [Name]'s only. Please don't use anyone else's, even to be helpful. If [Name] can't finish a sentence, has blue lips, or the breathing goes quiet, call the ambulance service and sit them upright."

---

7. What success looks like in 24 hours

Not a cure — a safer, calmer week. You can call these done if:

• ✅ Every inhaler and spacer has a labelled bag and a name on it
• ✅ The "no sharing" line is on the kitchen board
• ✅ A repeat has been requested, and you know when the next inhaler arrives
• ✅ One named person owns the pharmacy/surgery call and the technique check
• ✅ One neighbour or relative knows: *call the ambulance service, sit them upright, only their own inhaler*
• ✅ You passed one thing on and you also ate

---

Two things I'd like from you, when you can: which country and city you're in (so I can point you to the exact out-of-hours medicine route and the correct emergency service name for you), and whether the person who uses the reliever is a child, an adult, or an older person — the wording of the emergency steps differs slightly.