Don’t go outside if you can help it. Here’s how to stay safe from smoke in SLO County
San Luis Obispo County residents woke up to another day of hazy skies on Thursday, as air quality across the county dropped to dangerous levels due to wildfire smoke.
As fires continued to burn across California, three North County spots ranked among the worst areas for air quality in the United States on Thursday morning, according to air quality monitoring company IQ Air.
So how can locals residents protect their health?
Here are a few tips from the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District, the county Public Health Department and American Lung Association on how to stay safe.
What to do if you smell smoke
Smelling smoke is a direct sign that you are in an area with poor air quality. District officials recommend people in this situation “take precautions and use common sense to reduce your exposure to smoke.”
All adults and children should remain indoors if possible, avoid strenuous outdoor activity and close all windows and doors that lead to the outside to prevent bringing additional smoke inside.
If you run an air conditioner, make sure to keep the filter clean and the fresh air intake closed. Also use the recirculate setting to keep from pulling outside air into the room.
If you cannot stay inside your own home because of the heat, try to find another place to stay while the air quality is bad.
Pets should also be brought inside.
When driving, keep your car windows and vents closed and operate your air conditioning in recirculate mode.
Who is at risk of poor air quality?
Children, older adults and those with existing respiratory illness and heart conditions are the most at risk due to poor air quality, according to the county Air Pollution Control District. Pregnant women should also take extra precautions.
Even if the adults in a household are not showing any symptoms or signs of respiratory distress, children could be at heightened risk.
According to the district, if smoke increases, healthy people could be affected as well.
What do to do if you see ash
Ash poses a number of risks to people and property.
Children should not be allowed to play in ash or toys that have ash on them. Make sure to wash all outdoor toys thoroughly.
You should avoid letting ash come in contact with your skin. If you must go outside, make sure to wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and pants. Wash any ash off your skin immediately.
Make sure to wash ash off of household pets if they go outside and come back inside.
Also wash garden vegetables and fruits before eating them.
To clean up ash around your home or patio areas, use a damp cloth or wet mop to clean off lightly dusted areas; you can also gently sweep hard surfaces, followed by a wet mopping.
Never use leaf blowers or shop vacs to clean up dust.
Dispose of the ash in a regular trash can.
When to seek medical help
If you must go or work outside, there are several important symptoms to look out for.
If you experience a cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, exhaustion, light-headedness or chest pain, you should immediately stop any outdoor activity immediately and seek medical attention.
What about face masks?
Cloth masks and face coverings such as those worn to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will not protect you from smoke during a wildfire.
According to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, residual spray when you speak produces larger droplets than the tiny particulate matter produced during wildfire events.
Special, more expensive dust masks with an N-95 or N-100 filter will filter out the damaging fine particles, but those are in short supply due to the coronavirus pandemic and should be reserved for frontline workers as much as possible, according to the public health department.
If you have lung disease, you should consult with your doctor before using an N95 mask as they can make it more difficult to breath and should only be used if you must go outside, according to the American Health Association.
What about coronavirus and air quality?
County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein reminded people during a Wednesday press conference of the connections between poor air quality and illnesses such as the novel coronavirus, which threaten people’s respiratory systems.
“What we want to do certainly is avoid having the co-occurance of having smoke inhalation and COVID disease,” she said. “So for both reasons, this is a very good time to be spending more time in your home.”
Borenstein added that air conditioning in your home is particularly effective in times of poor air quality.
“That is the more important thing you could be doing at this time, in this environment,” she said.
Where to find updates on air quality
The Air Pollution Control District and county officials are closely monitor smoke impacts and air quality in San Luis Obispo County, according to a Wednesday news release.
For more information on the changing air quality, you can consult the air quality index (AQI). The AQI provides real-time air quality data throughout San Luis Obispo County and focuses on health effects individuals may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
The current and forecasted AQI is available via the APCD website at slocleanair.org. You can also follow the SLO County APCD and Public Health Department Twitter feeds for the latest updates — at @slocleanair and @SLOPublicHealth, respectively.
You can also sign up for AirAware alerts on your phone by visiting slocleanair.org.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 11:32 AM.
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