Asthma — severity signs
Mild: wheeze on expiration, speaks in sentences, saturation above 95 %. Moderate: wheeze throughout, speaks in phrases, accessory muscle use. Severe: speaks in single words, sitting forward, marked accessory muscle use, saturation under 90 %. Imminent arrest: silent chest, drowsiness, confusion, paradoxical thoracoabdominal movement, bradycardia. A silent chest is not improvement. Wheezing requires airflow; its disappearance in a person still in distress means airflow has become too low to make a sound.