Asthma First Aid An asthma attack can take anything from a few minutes to a few days to develop. It can be a very frightening experience and people having an asthma attack need help straight away. The four-step Asthma First Aid is: Sit the person upright and give reassurance – do not leave them alone. Without delay, give the person four separate puffs of your blue reliever medication (Airomir, Asmol, Bricanyl, Epaq or Ventolin). This should be taken one puff at a time via a spacer (if available). Ask the person to take four breaths from the spacer after each puff of medication. Wait four minutes. If there is little or no improvement, repeat steps 2 and 3. If there is still no improvement, call an ambulance immediately. Dial triple zero (000). Repeat steps 2 and 3 continuously while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Further information is provided in the files below, including the action plan.