When haze makes the air quality bad, whe

Short version: on a haze day, the single change that matters most is to move the kids' exercise and play indoors and cut outdoor time to the cleanest hours — and to make sure the reliever inhaler is actually on the child's body, not in a bag or a school drawer.

One honest limit first: this allergy guide does not cover asthma, inhalers or medication rules (`references/01`/`00-ROUTER`), so I cannot set medical thresholds or adjust anything for the kids. The numbers below are public-health air-quality bands, and the medical side belongs to their own doctor in a written asthma action plan. I can tell you exactly what to do tonight with what you already own.

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1) What you tried vs. better alternatives

You tried outdoor sports on high-index days. That is the one to stop — exertion is the biggest lever a family controls, and the kids' own schools already act on it: one US district keeps all students indoors above AQI 150, and keeps students with respiratory symptoms and sensitive students indoors between AQI 100–150 (Granite School District, checked 2026-10-30, page). "Sensitive students may include those with asthma."

Two extra household levers: a portable HEPA purifier or a box fan with a HEPA filter in the room the kids sleep in (if you own one — no buying required), and a well-fitting mask in each school bag for the unavoidable trip out.

Your inhaler inventory, which matters more on haze days: from your own notes, each child has one inhaler and the home storage point is by the bed — but the inhaler left at school on 2026-10-02 was never recorded as returned, and the two from 2026-10-23 are still unconfirmed. So today, before the next school day, call the school (nurse's office occupied → front office, before 16:00) and ask exactly which inhalers are physically in the nurse's office, and get them back. Per your own rule: if the counter reads low or the reading is unclear, or a family inhaler is missing, refill per the prescription at the pharmacy counter — pharmacy hours aren't in our records, so confirm them yourself. I am not setting or changing any dose.

Food, no cooking required: for indoor haze days use what's already in the house — sandwiches, porridge, soup you already made, fruit, yogurt, milk. Avoid frying (adds particles and odor to the room); if you cook, run the hood/exhaust and close the room door.

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2) Constraints and the avoid list

• Do not change, add, or time any inhaler/medication yourself; don't fill in dose or timing boxes on any form — the prescriber signs those (blank boxes stay blank).
• No buying prescription inhalers online, no "herbal"/mystery powders, no nebulizer mixes, no steam inhalations with unknown substances.
• Don't judge the air by smell or by how the sky looks — haze particles are often odorless. Use the number your index app shows.
• Don't use a newly bought peak-flow meter to make dose decisions; that's a device question for the prescriber.
• Don't leave a child with asthma alone in a room with an aerosol or heavy cooking smoke.

One thing to note about scales: the bands below are the US EPA/AQI scale used by NOAA's public pages (weather.gov air quality, checked 2026-10-30). If your app shows PM2.5 in µg/m³ instead of an AQI number, use the PM2.5 lines from the district guidance above (35.4–55.5 → sensitive students indoors; above 55.5 → all indoors), because those thresholds are tied to that scale.

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3) Decision tree (screenshot this)

```
Read the index BEFORE the outdoor window
│
├─ AQI 0–50 (Good)
│ └─ Normal outdoor time; still check daily (haze can shift by morning)
│
├─ AQI 51–100 (Moderate)
│ └─ Outdoor ok, but SHORTEN it; move PE/sports indoors;
│ watch for cough/wheeze tonight
│
├─ AQI 101–150 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups)
│ └─ Asthma kids = sensitive group → OUTDOORS TO THE MINIMUM
│ • PE, practice, football, running → indoors
│ • walks: short, early, away from traffic
│ • mask in bag for the trip to school
│ • reliever on the child's body, checked before they leave
│
├─ AQI 151–200 (Unhealthy)
│ └─ Everyone limits exertion; kids stay IN
│ • windows shut at peak; purifier/HEPA fan on in bedrooms
│ • no outdoor games; school told (script below)
│
└─ AQI 201+ (Very Unhealthy / Hazardous)
└─ Kids stay in entirely; no outdoor play at all
• keep indoor air as clean as possible (see above)
• expect a cough night → plan the reliever per their own plan
```

Anchor lines from the official page I opened (2026-10-30): "Good is AQI 0-50… Moderate is AQI 51-100, very sensitive people may wish to limit outdoor exertion. Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups is AQI 101-150, sensitive people should limit outdoor exertion. Unhealthy is AQI 151-200, everyone should limit exertion outdoors. Very Unhealthy is AQI 201-300, sensitive people should avoid all outdoor activity." And on alerts: "Stay inside, stay informed, minimize your use of vehicles and other gas-powered machines, and do not burn waste or other items." And: "When the forecast for pollutants is high, plan activities indoors to limit exposure."

Indoor reset, ~15 minutes, no shopping: close windows + hood on, purifier/box fan in the bedroom, damp-wipe surfaces, damp-mop, no sprays or candles, reliever on each child's body, water and a quiet activity out ready.

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4) Red flags — stop the DIY and get help now

Call your local emergency number and use the reliever exactly as the children's own written plan says, if any of these appear:

• Cannot speak a full sentence, or cannot finish a short sentence without stopping for breath
• Chest tight, ribs pulling in, or breathing visibly fast at rest
• Blue or grey lips or fingernails
• Drowsy, floppy, confused, unusually quiet
• Wheeze or cough that does not settle after the reliever as their plan directs, or that keeps needing the reliever beyond what the plan allows- Breathing trouble that starts right after eating a known allergen (use the prescribed auto-injector first, then the reliever, then call — do not wait to see which it is)

Get a doctor visit soon (not the ER) if: the cough comes back every haze day for a week or two, night sleep is being broken by cough, the reliever is needed more than their plan allows, or the kids have no written asthma action plan. The action plan is the single document that makes haze decisions yours instead of guesswork — and it must be signed by the prescriber, with the dose and timing boxes filled in by them.

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5) Two scripts to screenshot and send

To the school (email or class message):
> "Good morning. My child has asthma and is in the sensitive group for air quality. Today's index is in the unhealthy range, so per our doctor's advice we are asking for indoor recess and PE while this lasts. My child's reliever inhaler is [in the nurse's office / in their backpack]. Could you confirm whether recess is indoors today, and tell me which inhalers are currently held at the school nurse's office so we can arrange to collect them? Thank you."

To the doctor (book or phone, one message):
> "I want a written asthma action plan that states: at which AQI/PM2.5 level we keep my child indoors, which inhaler goes to school and which stays home, what to do when a cough starts at night, and who to call after hours. Our current written plan is [missing / out of date]. Also, please note my own sleep is poor and I am waiting on a sleep-clinic referral."

6) What success looks like in 24 hours (no cure promised)

• Nobody exercised outdoors during the worst air hours.
• Every reliever is in a hand, not a shelf — and the school tells you which inhalers it still holds.
• The school knows the indoor recess/PE plan for the rest of this haze week.
• One contact with the doctor about the written plan, rather than improvising dose decisions.
• The rooms the kids sleep in are the cleanest air in the house; nothing aerosolized inside.
• A short note of when the cough appeared and when it settled, ready to hand the doctor.

The one thing I'd like to know from you: does each child have a doctor's written asthma action plan, and does it name their own "stay indoors" threshold? If yes, send me those lines and I'll fold them into the tree above so the numbers are theirs. If no, the doctor visit becomes tonight's top item, and everything else here still stands.