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Warning-sign checks

Industrial bronchitis: when to get help

Go through these in order and stop at the first one that applies. If you are reading this for someone else, answer for them.

  1. 1

    Is any of this happening now?

    Call 911

    Leave the contaminated area without entering an unsafe space to help someone else, and follow workplace emergency procedures.

    Get urgent or emergency help for:

    • Severe difficulty breathing or inability to speak normally
    • Blue, grey, or unusually pale lips or skin
    • New confusion, collapse, or extreme drowsiness
    • Chest pressure or severe chest pain
    • Coughing up more than a small streak of blood
    • Rapid worsening after inhaling a toxic gas or chemical
    Other emergency signs, for anyone
    • Someone who is struggling to breathe, gasping, choking, or cannot get words out
    • Someone who has chest pain, tightness or pressure lasting more than a few minutes
    • Someone who has sudden weakness or drooping on one side of the face or body, slurred speech, or sudden confusion
    • Someone who is unconscious, or cannot be woken
    • Someone who is bleeding heavily and it will not stop with firm pressure
    • Someone who has had a seizure that will not stop, or does not wake up afterwards
    • Someone who has lips or skin that look pale, blue, grey or blotchy
    • Someone who you believe has taken an overdose or swallowed something poisonous
  2. 2

    Is any of this happening?

    Be seen today

    Seek prompt medical advice if symptoms suddenly worsen, you develop a fever with breathing difficulty, or you have been involved in a significant chemical spill or fume exposure.

  3. 3

    Does any of this apply?

    Book an appointment

    Arrange a routine medical appointment if you have a cough lasting more than several weeks, regularly bring up phlegm, or notice symptoms linked with work.

    Assessment is also appropriate if you have recurrent “bronchitis,” wheezing, or gradually increasing breathlessness.

    These signs are not routine features of industrial bronchitis and may indicate a serious inhalation injury or another medical problem.

Every sign above is quoted from the sofidex article on Industrial bronchitis. If you are not sure, err upward — it is always reasonable to be checked.