Smoke Advice from Canton Public Health, ODH
CANTON, Ohio (News Talk 1480 WHBC) – All of Ohio and four of our five neighboring states were under Air Quality Advisories on Wednesday
West Virginia did not have a statewide advisory.
Here’s more from Canton City Public Health:
People with respiratory disease, children, older adults, and people who are active outdoors are the groups most at risk and should consider rescheduling outdoor activities.
Questions concerning this air quality alert may be directed to Canton City Public Health, Air Pollution Control at (330) 438-4640.
You can get the latest air quality readings for your area from airnow.gov
The Ohio Department of Health says those particulates can cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat and chest.
For those impacted, they recommend staying in a room where you can be shut off from the outside air.
State Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff reminds us that those with asthma, COPD or heart disease need to take special care.
The state health department says stay hydrated.
And they say even indoor vacuuming can worsen any inside air pollution.
Here’s more from the ODH:
The most important precaution is to limit outdoor activity, especially outdoor exercise, and spend more time indoors.
Other precautions include:
• Spend time in a room you can close off from outside air.
• Avoid using candles, gas, propane, wood-burning stoves, fireplaces, and aerosol sprays. Smoking tobacco products
and vacuuming may worsen indoor air pollution.
• If you have a central air conditioning system, use high efficiency filters to capture fine particles from smoke. If your system has a fresh air intake, set the system to recirculate mode or close the outdoor intake damper.
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. If your eyes, nose or throat are irritated, running a humidifier may
provide some relief.
It also is important to check in on anyone who is more at risk and to carefully monitor children.
Those with asthma are encouraged to carefully follow your asthma action plan, if you have one.
Make sure you have enough medication for several days.
Those with heart disease or COPD should pay close attention to symptoms such as chest pain or tightness, a fast heartbeat, feeling more out of breath than usual, or extreme fatigue.
Contact your doctor, or if symptoms are severe, call 9-1-1.
For more health information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, visit Protect Yourself from WildfireSmoke.
