If your eyes and throat feel a bit irritated lately, it’s most likely from the heavy smoke hanging around the north.
The recent wildfire activity is wreaking havoc on people’s health as Northern Health is reporting higher hospital admissions during this time.
“Generally, we do see higher rates of hospital admissions and admissions to doctor’s offices due to asthma during high-smoke events,” says Paula Tait, Health, and Resource Advisor.
Some symptoms can be much more harmful depending on your current health.
“For some people, it can be more serious leading to higher rates of heart attacks and these symptoms will vary depending on conditions and the people that are affected, I highly recommend listening to your body and adjusting your activities accordingly.”.
Tait also has a simple solution for people to help mitigate any air issues in their home.
“Indoor air cleaners with a HEPA-filter or electrostatic precipitator will actually clean the air those are available in a lot of home improvement stores as long as your getting one sized accordingly to your room it should work.”
She recently went through her own experience with the smoke by closing all her windows and setting her furnace to recirculate to try and keep the smoke from coming into her home and to filter the air.
People should avoid generating dust by not sweeping or vacuuming and to not cook with any vapors or fumes.