Use your completed asthma action plan as a zone-based decision guide: check how you feel, take a plan-directed peak-flow reading if one is included, identify the green, yellow or red zone, and follow that zone’s written medicine and contact instructions. Never guess a dose from a blank template or use someone else’s plan.
What an asthma action plan does
An asthma action plan is a written, individualized set of instructions created with your health care provider. It connects your symptoms, and sometimes your peak-flow readings, to specific actions. The plan should tell you which daily medicines to use, what to do when symptoms worsen, how to recognize a medical alert, whom to contact and when to seek emergency care.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: “Everyone with asthma needs their own Asthma Action Plan.” A completed plan is different from a blank worksheet. A sample form can show where information belongs, but it does not establish your medicine, number of puffs, repeat interval, oral-steroid instructions or emergency threshold.
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Prepare the plan before symptoms start
Complete it with your clinician
Ask your clinician to fill in every medicine name, dose, timing, maximum or repeat instructions, symptom thresholds, peak-flow thresholds and contact number. Confirm whether the plan is based on symptoms alone or on symptoms plus a peak-flow meter. If you have more than one inhaler, make sure the plan identifies each one by purpose and timing rather than relying on color or memory.
Make it easy to find
Keep a current copy where the person with asthma spends time. Give copies or access to caregivers, household members, school or child-care staff, and workplace contacts when appropriate. The CDC form includes space for the patient, clinician and emergency contacts; complete those fields rather than leaving responders to search for information.
Know the triggers and warning signs
Use the plan’s trigger list to reduce exposure to the things that worsen your asthma. Read the symptom descriptions with the people who may help you. A caregiver should know where the plan is, which medicines are listed and how to recognize the red-zone instructions.
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Read every field before you need it
Find the daily-medicine section, the yellow-zone section, the red-zone section and the contact information while you are well. Note whether the form tells you to call the office after a particular number of hours, after repeated yellow-zone episodes or immediately. If a direction is abbreviated or confusing, ask the clinician to explain it and write the clarification on the updated plan rather than relying on memory during a flare-up.
Identify your zone
At the time you need to use the plan, compare your current symptoms with the written symptom descriptions. If your plan includes peak-flow monitoring, take the reading using the technique your clinician taught you and compare it with your personal best and the thresholds written on your form. Then follow the matching zone; do not substitute a percentage from a different form.
| Zone | What it generally indicates | How the plan is used | Peak-flow examples in CDC materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Asthma is controlled enough for usual activities and there are no significant warning symptoms. | Continue the daily controller and other routine instructions exactly as written. | 80% or more of personal best is an example, not a universal cutoff. |
| Yellow | Symptoms or activity limits indicate that asthma is worsening. | Use the additional reliever and other steps written for your yellow zone, continue green-zone medicines as directed, and reassess or contact the clinician according to the plan. | About half to three-quarters of personal best is an example in CDC guidance. |
| Red | A medical alert: breathing is very difficult, usual activity is not possible, or the reliever is not helping. | Follow the immediate emergency instructions and contact directions on the plan; seek urgent help when indicated. | Below half of personal best is the example in the CDC sample plan. |
These percentages come from CDC examples. The American Lung Association advises deciding the actual green, yellow and red readings with your clinician. A peak-flow number never overrides severe symptoms or delays emergency care.
Use symptoms as real-time information
Symptoms that can place someone in the yellow zone include cough, wheeze, chest tightness, breathlessness, waking at night or difficulty doing usual activities. A person may have more than one symptom, and the plan may define a combination or a particular change from their usual condition. Compare what is happening now with the wording on the form instead of waiting for every listed symptom to appear.
Red-zone wording may include severe trouble breathing, inability to do usual activities, a reliever that does not help or a plan-defined very low peak-flow value. If someone cannot speak or function normally because breathing is so difficult, do not delay action while trying to obtain a meter reading.
Green zone: keep asthma controlled
Green-zone status means you are following the routine part of the plan. Continue every daily controller medicine at the prescribed times, even when you feel well, unless your clinician changes the instructions. Use the prevention steps listed in the plan and record readings or symptoms if your clinician asks you to track them.
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Being in the green zone does not authorize extra doses, stopping a controller or changing the schedule on your own. If symptoms are becoming more frequent, sleep is disturbed, or normal activities are getting harder despite a green-zone reading, contact your clinician to review whether the plan still fits.
Green-zone care is also a chance to check readiness. Make sure the listed medicines are available, the written instructions are legible, and emergency phone numbers still work. Tell the clinician if a prescribed medicine is unavailable or if the person with asthma cannot explain what the next zone requires.
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Yellow-zone instructions apply when the symptoms or peak-flow result match the worsening range written in your plan. Follow the named reliever medicine, number of puffs or other treatment and repeat interval exactly as prescribed. Continue the green-zone medicines unless your plan says otherwise.
Reassess on the plan’s schedule
Many written plans include a reassessment after treatment. The CDC sample form shows a one-hour reassessment step, but that example is not a universal schedule. Use the interval and next action on your completed plan. Record whether breathing, wheezing, chest tightness, cough, sleep or activity improves.
Improvement does not necessarily mean the episode is over. Follow the plan’s full reassessment and contact instructions, including any direction to notify the clinician after a yellow-zone episode. If symptoms return after temporary relief, use the written escalation path rather than repeatedly improvising doses.
Contact the clinician when instructed
Your plan may tell you to call the office immediately, after a specified period, or if yellow-zone episodes recur. Follow that direction even if the medicine provides temporary relief. Ask for an update if the listed prescription has changed, the plan uses an old clinician number, or you no longer understand the next step.
Do not borrow a regimen
Another person’s inhaler, dose or oral-steroid schedule may be unsafe for you. Blank medication lines in a sample form are not permission to fill in a treatment from memory. Only your treating clinician can determine the medicine and dose for your situation.
Red zone: treat it as a medical alert
Red-zone signs can include severe breathing difficulty, inability to do usual activities, a reliever that is not helping, or a very low peak-flow result according to your plan. Do not wait for a reading if breathing is dangerously hard or symptoms are rapidly worsening.
- Follow the immediate red-zone medicine instruction on your completed plan.
- Use the emergency contact or emergency-service direction written there.
- Call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number when the plan says to, when medicines are not relieving symptoms, or when breathing remains very difficult.
- Continue following dispatcher or emergency-clinician instructions while arranging urgent care.
NHLBI advises emergency care for a serious attack and for symptoms that do not go away soon after at-home medicine. A peak-flow meter is not a substitute for urgent assessment, and a temporarily improved number does not make severe symptoms safe to ignore.
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Doctor call or emergency care?
Use the plan’s contact rules for worsening but manageable symptoms, prescription questions and repeated yellow-zone episodes. Use emergency instructions for severe breathing trouble, failure of the reliever or symptoms that remain very difficult despite the at-home steps. When in doubt about a rapidly worsening situation, treat it as urgent rather than waiting for an office callback.
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A peak-flow meter measures how quickly you can breathe air out. It can help reveal a decline before symptoms feel severe and can provide an objective comparison with your personal best. It is useful only when your clinician has shown you how to use it and has written the readings and actions into your plan.
Establish the reference correctly
Your personal best is the reference selected with your clinician, not a generic population value. Ask how often to measure, whether to measure before or after medicine, how to record the best of several blows, and when a reading should trigger action. The American Lung Association’s September 28, 2026 guidance emphasizes that clinician direction should determine both the readings and the action attached to them.
Use the meter consistently
- Stand or sit as instructed, reset the indicator and seal your lips around the mouthpiece.
- Blow out as hard and fast as you can, repeat the number of times your clinician taught you, and record the value required by your plan.
- Compare the result with the thresholds printed on your plan, not with a threshold copied from an online example.
- Clean and store the device according to its instructions and tell your clinician if the device is damaged or readings are unexpectedly inconsistent.
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When symptoms and the meter disagree
Use the more concerning information and the plan’s written instructions. A reassuring number does not cancel severe symptoms, and a low number should not be dismissed because you feel only mildly unwell. Tell your clinician about repeated mismatches, unusual readings or difficulty using the meter so the plan and technique can be reviewed.
A practical routine for using the plan
- Keep the plan available. Use the latest signed or otherwise completed version and make sure helpers know its location.
- Check how you feel. Look for the symptoms your clinician listed, including night waking and difficulty with usual activities.
- Measure only if directed. Take and record a peak-flow reading using your established technique if your plan includes one.
- Match the zone. Use the symptom description and the plan-defined reading together when both are present.
- Follow the written action. Use only the medicine, dose, timing and repeat instructions on your plan.
- Recheck as directed. Note whether the response meets the plan’s reassessment standard.
- Escalate without delay when necessary. Use the red-zone and emergency instructions if breathing is very hard, the reliever fails or symptoms are not resolving.
- Document and report. Record the episode and tell your clinician when the plan requires contact or when episodes are becoming more common.
Helping a child or another person follow the plan
Children and adults who need assistance may not recognize or describe every symptom. Review the plan with each caregiver, school or child-care staff member and workplace contact who may be present during an episode. Explain where the current copy and listed medicines are kept, who should be called and which red-zone signs require emergency services.
Use the same completed plan across settings. A school or workplace copy should not contain a different dose, threshold or phone number. Replace every copy after a prescription, clinician or contact change, and remove superseded versions so helpers do not follow conflicting instructions.
Symptoms versus symptoms plus peak flow
Some people use a symptom-based plan: the zone is determined by cough, wheeze, chest tightness, breathlessness, sleep disruption and activity limits. Others use those symptoms together with peak-flow readings. The correct choice is the one your clinician has designed for you.
Symptom-only monitoring may be simpler when a meter is unavailable or readings are unreliable. Adding peak flow can provide an early measurable warning for someone who has been trained to use the meter consistently. Neither approach authorizes a generic medication schedule. The plan must state what action follows each zone.
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When to update or replace the plan
Contact the health care provider if the form is blank, hard to interpret, out of date, missing emergency contacts, or no longer matches the medicines you have been prescribed. Update it after a medication change, a significant attack, a change in clinician, a move, or a change in school, child-care or workplace arrangements.
Review the plan periodically with the clinician, even when asthma seems stable. Check that phone numbers work, medicines are available and unexpired, and every caregiver understands the same escalation steps. Keep the old version out of circulation so someone does not follow superseded instructions.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
Treating a blank template as a prescription
Fix: Have the clinician complete the medicine, dose, timing, thresholds and contacts before relying on the form.
Using another person’s zone thresholds
Fix: Use only the symptoms and peak-flow values written for you. CDC percentages are examples, not universal rules.
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Waiting for a peak-flow number during severe distress
Fix: Follow the emergency section immediately when breathing is very difficult or the reliever is not helping.
Stopping controller medicine after improvement
Fix: Return to the routine instructions only as your plan directs; do not make an unsupervised change.
Leaving caregivers without access
Fix: Provide the current plan and explain where the medicines, contacts and emergency instructions are located.
Keeping an outdated copy
Fix: Replace copies whenever prescriptions or contact details change and discard superseded versions.
Relying on color alone
Fix: Read the symptom wording and any peak-flow threshold. A color-coded form is useful only when everyone knows what each zone means for that individual.
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What a well-designed plan should contain
Whether you use a clinician’s form or an official template, check that it clearly identifies:
- The patient and treating clinician.
- Daily medicines and exact instructions.
- Symptoms that define each zone.
- Peak-flow readings and personal-best reference, if monitoring is prescribed.
- Yellow-zone treatment, reassessment timing and clinician-contact rules.
- Red-zone treatment, emergency-service instructions and urgent-care thresholds.
- Triggers, prevention steps and emergency contacts.
The CDC fillable Asthma Action Plan provides fields for these categories. NHLBI’s treatment and action-plan guidance explains why each category belongs in an individualized written plan.
Sources and dates
The CDC “Living with Asthma” page was published May 15, 2024, updated January 11, 2024, and shown as reviewed August 28, 2026. Its fillable Asthma Action Plan supplies example zone fields and contacts. NHLBI’s “Asthma Treatment and Action Plan” defines the plan’s components, while its “Asthma Attack” guidance was last updated April 17, 2024. The American Lung Association’s “Measuring Your Peak Flow Rate” guidance was updated September 28, 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use my asthma action plan?
Check your symptoms and, if your plan includes it, take a peak-flow reading. Match the result to the completed green, yellow or red zone, then follow that zone’s medicine, reassessment and contact instructions exactly.
What should I do in the yellow zone?
Use the reliever and any other treatment, dose and repeat interval written in your personal yellow-zone instructions. Continue green-zone medicines as directed, reassess on the plan’s schedule and contact your clinician when the plan says to.
What does the red zone mean?
Red means medical alert. Severe breathing difficulty, inability to do usual activities, a reliever that is not helping or a very low plan-defined peak-flow reading require the immediate steps and emergency contacts written in your plan.
When should I call my doctor or go to the emergency room?
Call the clinician according to your yellow-zone contact rules for worsening symptoms, repeated episodes or treatment questions. Seek emergency help when breathing is very difficult, medicine is not relieving symptoms, symptoms do not go away soon after at-home medicine or your red-zone instructions say to do so.
Are CDC peak-flow percentages universal?
No. CDC materials use 80% or more of personal best for green, about half to three-quarters for yellow and below half for red as examples. Your clinician must set the readings and actions in your own plan.
Do I need a peak-flow meter for an asthma action plan?
Not necessarily. Some plans use symptoms alone; others combine symptoms with peak-flow readings. Use a meter only if your clinician has included it and taught you how to use it.
Can I use a blank asthma action-plan template?
A blank form is a worksheet, not a prescription. Have your clinician enter the medicines, doses, thresholds, reassessment instructions and emergency contacts before relying on it.
What if my action plan is outdated or confusing?
Contact your health care provider for a completed update. Replace copies when medicines, clinicians, phone numbers, living arrangements or school, child-care or workplace details change.
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An asthma action plan works when it is individualized, current and easy to follow. Check symptoms, use peak flow only when directed, follow the matching zone’s written instructions and seek emergency help for severe breathing trouble or a reliever that is not working.
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