Staying Safe During Forest Fires

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Wildfire smoke can affect communities far from the source

• Wildfires can lead to burns, smoke inhalation and physical trauma
• They contribute to landslides as they burn through vegetation that stabilizes soils
• Smoke is the most important health risk from wildfires; containing many toxins, varying based upon what gets burned

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Asthma, COPD, other chronic resp diseases 

Wildfire smoke causes an increase in coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness, requiring increased medication usage, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions

CV disease 

Patients with cardiovascular disease experience greater incidence of ischemic events, worsening of heart failure and arrhythmias; often leading to more emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and mortality

Chronic Kidney Disease 

Wildfire smoke exposure results in excess same-day mortality for dialysis patients, decreased renal function, and progression to end-stage renal disease

Other 

Extremes of age, physical disabilities, outdoor workers, patients unable to relocate when needed

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Identify ways to monitor air quality index (AQI)
- Identifying fire risk and hazardous air quality is necessary to assess when additional steps for safety are needed
- AQI is found in most smart phones
When the AQI is greater than 50, stay indoors
- Mask while outside
- Masks labeled N95 (United States), FFP2 (Europe), KN95 (China), P2(Australia/New Zealand), DS2 (Japan), PFF2 (Brazil), and KF94(Korea) should filter a large proportion of solid (but not gaseous) components of wildfire smoke.
- Children younger than two years of age should not wear a mask
Manage indoor air quality
- Reduce indoor pollution by limiting indoor smoking, vaping, wood fires, candles, incense, cleaning products, and cooking can also release air pollutants
- Indoor air filtration
Create a clean room
- This should be completed before wildfire smoke appears
- Find a room that can fit all the people living in the home, ideally, with air conditioning
- Seal it by closing windows and doors
- Filter the air using a built-in filter in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system or a portable air filter with the capacity to filter the room.
Have an Action Plan
- Contingency plans for power outages
- An evacuation plan, including identification of an evacuation route and meet-up location

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