Wildfire smoke and your health: Best practices to stay safe outdoors and indoors
Tracee Tuesday
BEND, Ore. [KTVZ] — Where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire! In fact, Central Oregon has one of the most intense wildfire seasons, and it’s not just about dealing with fire, it’s about dealing with smoke.
How much does the smoke affect our skin and our bodies? Medical spa, EsthetixMD, has some answers.
“The smoke can be a big stressor when it comes to skin. It can create inflammation. It can create dryness, dehydration. And if you have any preexisting conditions, it can definitely make them flare up,” said Clinical Manager and Registered Nurse, Cri Tillia.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, smoke also contains carbon monoxide, a gas that blocks oxygen delivery and can lead to headaches, dizziness, nausea and even unconsciousness. How can you protect your body? Your skin?
“Protect your skin with a nice barrier, moisturizer. Use your sunscreen. Even though you don’t see the sun, it’s actually getting to your skin as well. Wash your skin right after being outside. Don’t over wash, because your skin actually has a nice barrier. You don’t want to remove that barrier, but cleanse that smoke,” said Tillia.
One of the other issues to contend with is your HVAC system. How do you get the best out of it during days when you have to ingest and smell heavy smoke?
“It’s important that, if you do have a fresh air intake on your system, and what that does is it brings in fresh air to kind of a mix with your HVAC, that fresh air intake should be turned off And then, it’s really just making sure that you’ve got a nice fresh air filter in there,” said Severson Plumbing Heating AC’s Service Manager, Derek Hickey.
It’s clear, haze can harm more than just visibility, but Central Oregonians, like Prineville resident Mariah Jordan says, by now they’re used to the smoke.
“It’s kind of expected every summer. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
The Red Cross says, one of the most important things that we can do to keep ourselves safe is:
Invest in an N95 mask or a mask that filters at least 95% of airborne particles
Stay indoors, away from wildfire smoke especially if you have a pre-existing condition
Stay hydrated