Wildfire smoke sends more Oregonians to emergency rooms

Days of poor air quality from thick wildfire smoke are pushing more Oregonians into emergency rooms and urgent care clinics, state health officials say.

Respiratory complaints have climbed past what the state normally sees this time of year in regions blanketed by smoke, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported Wednesday, according to The Oregonian, the state’s largest newspaper.

Much of Oregon is under an air quality advisory, including Portland and long stretches of the central and eastern parts of the state.

The demographics of those seeking care have surprised experts. Adults ages 18–44 made up the largest share of patients seeking care, rather than older adults, as expected.

Gabriela Goldfarb, environmental health manager for OHA’s Public Health Division, said older adults and people with chronic illness may already be taking precautions, while younger adults are shrugging off the risk.

“Folks who are in that younger cohort may feel a little bit less vulnerable,” Goldfarb told The Oregonian. “But it turns out it impacts everybody’s health as well.”

When trees and plants burn, the smoke carries tiny particles. The smallest are called PM_2.5 and are about 30 times thinner than a human hair. They are small enough to sink deep into the lungs and pass into the bloodstream, Goldfarb said.

Those particles are especially risky for people with heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or diabetes, she said. Kids are vulnerable too because their respiratory systems are still maturing.

Officials urge people to stay indoors when air quality turns unhealthy and to skip strenuous outdoor activity such as running or heavy yard work.

Those without air conditioning were also urged to spend part of the day in a library, community center or other public building with filtered air.

Indoors, OHA points to portable HEPA units or a do-it-yourself version rigged from a box fan and furnace filters to help reduce smoke particles.

Outdoors, only a snug N95 or KN95 respirator will do. Bandanas, cloth face coverings and surgical masks let smoke particles slip through, Goldfarb said.

Burning eyes, coughing and a sore throat are the most common symptoms of smoke exposure. Anyone with painful or difficult breathing or whose preexisting health conditions worsen should seek medical advice.

Smoke is expected to thin around Portland by Friday and across eastern Oregon by Saturday.

Nationally, crews are fighting 86 uncontained large fires, roughly half of them in Oregon and Washington, the National Interagency Fire Center said. Fourteen states are currently reporting large fires.

Firefighters have responded to 45,287 wildfires so far this year, burning more than 5.5 million acres.

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