| What can clinicians do about dyspnea crisis? |
- Educate patients, families, caregivers, and health care professionals
- Develop a tailored "action plan" before a crisis and reinforce it at every visit
- Incorporate developing an action plan into pulmonary rehabilitation programs, videos, or web-based educational tools
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| Approaches to help patients and caregivers manage dyspnea crisis |
- Develop and practice a "ritual" to decrease fears and sense of panic and to increase sense of control.
- Try approaches that have worked before, eg, inhaler or nebulizer treatment.
- Change positions. Find a position that helps ease breathing, eg, elevate the head of the bed, use extra pillows, or sit upright or in a "tripod position."
- Pursed lip breathing.
- Develop a hand sign or signal that means, "I need help!"
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