UrgentEmergency Guide
Wheezing: Red Flags & Emergency Signs
A silent chest (absent wheeze in a known asthmatic who is clearly struggling) is a life-threatening sign of severe bronchospasm — more dangerous than audible wheeze.
🚨 Call 999 / 112 Immediately
- ⚠Silent chest in a known asthmatic — near-fatal asthma, call 999
- ⚠Wheeze with urticaria and throat swelling — anaphylaxis
- ⚠Sudden onset wheeze in a child who was eating or playing — foreign body aspiration
- ⚠Wheeze with cyanosis — respiratory failure
⚡ See a Doctor Today
- •Wheeze not responding to 3 back-to-back salbutamol puffs (10 puffs via spacer)
- •Wheeze with respiratory rate >25/min (adult) — moderate-severe asthma
High-Risk Combinations
When wheezing occurs together with any of these symptoms, urgency increases significantly:
Conditions to Rule Out Urgently
Anaphylaxisemergency
IM adrenaline + 999; bronchospasm responds to adrenaline
Severe Asthma Attackurgent
SpO₂ + PEFR; nebulised salbutamol + ipratropium; IV magnesium
Foreign Body Aspirationurgent
Sudden onset in child; inspiratory stridor; rigid bronchoscopy
Condition Authority Pages
Differential diagnosis analyses:
When to Call Emergency Services
- →Silent chest (no wheeze despite obvious respiratory effort)
- →Wheeze with lip or face swelling (anaphylaxis)
- →Child with sudden wheeze and history of eating/playing with small objects