Health Tips

All information provided from CDC.gov

Who is at greatest risk from wildfire smoke?

• People who have heart or lung diseases, like heart disease, chest pain, lung disease, or asthma, are at higher risk from wildfire smoke.
• Older adults are more likely to be affected by smoke. This may be due to their increased risk of heart and lung diseases.
• Children are more likely to be affected by health threats from smoke. Children’s airways are still developing and they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Also, children often spend more time outdoors engaged in activity and play.

Take steps to decrease your risk from wildfire smoke.

• Check local air quality reports. Listen and watch for news or health warnings about smoke. Find out if your community provides reports about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI) or check the report on AirNow.gov. In addition, pay attention to public health messages about safety measures.
• Consult local visibility guides. Some communities have monitors that measure the amount of particles in the air. In the western United States, some states and communities have guidelines to help people determine if there are high levels of particulates in the air by how far they can see.
• Keep indoor air as clean as possible if you are advised to stay indoors. Keep windows and doors closed. Run an air conditioner, but keep the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean to prevent outdoor smoke from getting inside. If you do not have an air conditioner and it is too warm to stay inside with the windows closed, seek shelter in a designated evacuation center or away from the affected area.
• Avoid activities that increase indoor pollution. Burning candles, fireplaces, or gas stoves can increase indoor pollution. Vacuuming stirs up particles already inside your home, contributing to indoor pollution. Smoking also puts even more pollution into the air.
• Prevent wildfires from starting. Prepare, build, maintain and extinguish campfires safely. Follow local regulations if you burn trash or debris. Check with your local fire department to be sure the weather is safe enough for burning.
• Follow the advice of your doctor or other healthcare provider about medicines and about your respiratory management plan if you have asthma or another lung disease. Consider evacuating if you are having trouble breathing. Call your doctor for  advice if your symptoms worsen.
• Do not rely on dust masks for protection. Paper “comfort” or “dust” masks commonly found at hardware stores are designed to trap large particles, such as sawdust. These masks will not protect your lungs from the small particles found in wildfire smoke.
• Evacuate from the path of wildfires. Listen to the news to learn about current evacuation orders. Follow the instructions of local officials about when and where to evacuate. Take only essential items with you. Follow designated evacuation routes–others may be blocked–and plan for heavy traffic.

Educate: Wildfires are a part of life in the west, and a single wildfire can burn thousands of acres before they are contained. Some wildfires are necessary for ecosystem health, but wildfires always produce smoke. Particulate matter, a term for small particles suspended in the air, are the primary pollutant in smoke from wildfires.

Enact: Particulate matter may lead to respiratory issues, even in healthy individuals, and may aggravate pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality works with other agencies to monitor wildfire activity and evaluate potential impacts from smoke.

Empower: While the average Wyoming resident cannot fight a wildfire themselves (unless of course they are on a fire response team) there are strategies for reducing smoke exposure. AirNow recommends, among other things, staying indoors and running an air conditioner with a clean filter if possible. To see current air quality conditions in Wyoming for particulate matter and other pollutants visit http://www.wyvisnet.com/.

Additional sources:

• National Interagency Fire Center: https://www.nifc.gov/index.html
• U.S. Forest Service: https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/fire
• AirNow, smoke health effects: https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=smoke.index
• National air quality conditions: https://www.airnow.gov/.

It is tick season once again! Check out CDC’s web site for information about ticks and how to avoid contact with ticks.

It’s also not too early to start thinking about canning season.  The CDC has information on safe home canning.  Refresh your memory about canning here by using proper techniques and materials.

We deal with thunderstorms every summer.  They can be deadly.

Some points to remember:

•  Lightning can strike you even with the main thunderstorm 10 miles away.
•  Lightning can travel through sprinkler pipe, fences and anything metal.
• Take cover during a thunderstorm.

More information on lightning safety can be found at the following website:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/lightning-safety/

Check out the “more information” portion of that site for additional resources about lightning and thunderstorm safety.

So all of  you with outdoor activities remember to “Read and Heed.”  Are you taking a scout or youth  group out camping?  Know the dangers of lightning and what you can do to be safe.

–written by Dean Burnham

written by: Dean Burnham

Wyoming and its Spring Time!!!

You just got to love it!    Wyoming has a rough time jump starting into spring.  It can be sunny and warm, cloudy and rainy, cold, cloudy and snowing all within a few hours.

You have been waiting for the warmer weather so you can get out and go hiking, enjoying the out-of-doors, taking photos of nature, yard work or just plain kicking back and enjoying the change in the weather.

Remember it is wood tick season.  Make sure you use an insect repellent with “deet” and make sure you spray areas  where wood ticks can enter.  Waist and leg openings, shirt collar, arm openings.  Wood ticks can hitch a ride when you brush up against vegetation.  Open ridges, side slopes, aspen stands and forested areas are home to wood ticks.

So have fun outdoors this spring and summer but take care not to bring any of these little guys back with you.

Tip #5: Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke