As the wildfires continue to burn in northern parts of the province, Sun Country Health Region is encouraging residents in the southeast, especially people with existing health concerns, to monitor the local air quality and plan outdoor activities accordingly.
Dr. Ross Findlater, medical health officer for Sun Country Health Region, explained in an interview with the Mercury that summer weather is often when many people's seasonal allergies kick in, and with the added impact of the heavy smoke from the forest fires in northern Saskatchewan, an increased number of people are likely to be affected.
"People with asthma are more likely to get seasonal allergies or upper respiratory symptoms, like a runny nose or sore eyes, at the same time every year," Findlater said. "On top of that, when you have a big external event like the smoke from the northern forest fires, that will affect a wider variety of people, because it's potentially affecting anybody with significant chronic heart or lung disease."
Chronic heart and lung disease is often associated with smoking, and Findlater said people with those conditions should be extremely careful when air-quality warnings are in effect. Quitting smoking, especially with the northern fires still raging and directly affecting the southeast, is strongly encouraged.
Residents who are irritated by seasonal allergies or health concerns can minimize additional or worsening of symptoms by driving with the windows up, and ultimately avoiding going outdoors when the air quality is poor.
“Some people won't be affected by (the northern fires) at all. If you're a healthy person and don't have symptoms, don't modify your life too much," Findlater stressed.
Current air quality readings can be accessed by the public through Environment Canada's website, which displays the Air Quality Health Index for larger cities in the province. The closest city to Estevan where an air quality index is available for is Regina, which is currently sitting at a level 3, meaning "Low risk." A rating of 10 is labeled "Very high risk."
More localized air quality index levels can be viewed on Southeast Saskatchewan's Airshed Association's website, which displays numbers for the southeast part of the province. The current air quality reading for the southeast is 21, which is labeled as "Good." Readings from 26 to 50 are "Fair", while readings from 51 to 100 are "Poor". Findlater reminded the public, however, that the Airshed Association monitors the air quality in relation to the petroleum industry and that they aren't in relation to the medical field, but that it is still a useful tool for people looking for more localized air quality readings.
"Not a lot of people know about it," he said.
