Patients with asthma should have up-to-date written action plans and a sufficient medication supply as the 2023-24 bushfire season begins, according to new guidance.

The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) says older adults, pregnant women, children with asthma and Indigenous patients are particularly vulnerable to landscape fire smoke (LFS) and that optimal asthma management was “critical”.

“Ensuring patients achieve good asthma control, optimal adherence to their treatment and have satisfactory asthma management skills … may lead to fewer impacts during periods of LFS exposure,” the team of respiratory physicians and asthma experts wrote in Respirology.

“Written asthma action plans should be prescribed by the GP in a shared decision partnership with the patient or parent.”