Thunderstorm asthma workshops

NATIONAL Asthma Council Australia has announced six free educational workshops on “thunderstorm asthma” for health professionals across Melbourne.

The events are being supported by the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services, with the aim of helping pharmacists to upskill and prepare their practices before the upcoming spring season.

“Given that Asian and Indian migrants were disproportionately affected by Melbourne’s unprecedented 2016 epidemic thunderstorm asthma event, the workshops are being held in areas where there is a high concentration of affected groups,” the Council said, with people of Indian,

Sri Lankan or south-east Asian ethnicity making up 39% of hospital admissions related to the event.

The workshops will cover the phenomena of thunderstorm asthma, who is at greater risk, how to apply current evidence-based best practice of asthma and allergic rhinitis, the importance of written asthma plans, and emergency asthma management and first aid.

They will take place from 6.30pm to 9pm on the following dates:

- Thu 06 Sep - St Albans

- Tue 11 Sep - Cranbourne

- Wed 12 Sep - Mulgrave

- Thu 13 Sep - Werribee

- Tue 18 Sep - Dandenong

- Thu 20 Sep - Nunawading Multilingual resources will also be delivered at each workshop - see nationalasthma.org.au.