This summer, Coloradans have been battling hot, dry, and windy conditions. Fires in and out of the state have influenced poor, smokey, air quality, and extreme heat. Carrie Godes, a public health specialist with Garfield County, shares information on these conditions.
Air Quality and Smoke
“Right, a lot of times we can smell smoke, we can see smoke. You know, like for me, I look at Mount Sopris like can I see it today, and I do that five-three-one rule,” Godes stated.
Godes explained how the rule works, “So if you can’t see five miles, the air quality is unhealthy for people in sensitive groups; if you can't see three miles, it’s unhealthy for everybody and then that’s when you should minimize your outdoor activity, so you know avoid really strenuous activity outside; and then if it’s less than one mile, it’s still unhealthy for everybody, but that’s when you don't want to be outside at all.”
When you go inside to avoid poor air quality, it is important to think about the air inside too. There are ways to ensure your own home has clean air.
“Basically creating one room in your house where you have some way of making sure that that air is getting filtered or purified because a lot of us in Colorado didn’t or don't have air conditioning,” Godes said. “Or if you’re pulling in air from the outside you’re just pulling all that smoke inside.”
When air quality outside is poor, a clean air room can help. An air purifier is one way to create a clean breathable space in the home, but there are other ways to create clean air if air purifiers are unaffordable.
“If you want to do it yourself, there’s ways to do it with box fans and filters that you can pick up at your local hardware store. So there are ways to create that clean air room, and that’s where you would if the smoke was really bad,” Godes clarified. “And having that space that you can go to in your house where you’d shut the doors and make this one room your sanctuary while you wait for air conditions to change.”
Public spaces are another alternative when air quality is poor. You can go to a place that has air conditioning and filtration like grocery stores and recreational centers.
Heat and Heat Illnesses
Extreme heat, like we are experiencing now, is also affecting public health. With a record breaking heat dome moving across Colorado and hotter temperatures becoming more normalized, people can be prone to heat illnesses.
“Then there's two things to really pay attention to and that's heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” Godes described.
People have physical responses to extreme heat, and it is important to know what to look for with heat exhaustion and heat stroke. These close related illnesses have notable differences and knowing the best practices for dealing with these extreme conditions can be life saving.
“So heat exhaustion is when you are seeing someone who is sweating very heavily, maybe getting weak, dizzy, it also can come with headaches, nausea, muscle cramps,” Godes shared. “So if a person has these symptoms it could be heat exhaustion and that’s when you need to get that person to a cooler place, loosen up their clothing, give them some water––make sure they’re drinking––and make sure that you are making fast steps to get them cooled off.”
“Heat stroke is different and that is a medical emergency. That is a 911 call, that’s when someone is so hot they are confused, they may be fainting––so they have loss of consciousness––they could even have seizures, and they are going to have really high body temperatures. Their skin is going to feel hot even if they are not sweating; they may start vomiting excessively. So that is where your body’s cooling system is not working anymore and that is an emergency. So those are the two things to be most conscious of,” Godes emphasized.
The best way to avoid heat exhaustion and heat stroke is through preparedness.
“We know some of these days are going to be hot, so making sure that you’re taking steps to avoid being out there in the peak parts of the day,” Godes explained.
If you work outside and cannot avoid the heat, wearing sunscreen, hats, and long sleeved, light, and loose fitted clothing will mitigate heat risks. It is crucial to have enough water.
“The first message that we really want to drive home is preparedness. The time to prepare is now. So the first thing that I would emphasize is what’s your personal plan for you or your family, people you live with. One of the resources that I’d love to direct people to is called Ready.gov. It’s one of our government websites, and it has plans for every type of emergency that you can think of,” Godes shared.
It is important to have a personal plan, and then look out for your neighbors who may be more vulnerable in an emergency situation, like an elderly neighbor or young children.
Here are more resources on smoke, air quality, heat, and fires:
County alerts: You can sign up for emergency alerts for your county; for example, GarCo911 is Garfield County’s emergency alert system.
Air quality: Visit the Environmental Protection Agency (epa.gov) and look up air quality for sources like AIRNow and in-depth air quality information.
Smoke and heat:
Fire updates: Watch Duty can be downloaded on a mobile device or accessed via the website. Watch Duty provides live updates on fires and also shows smoke and power outages.
