Air quality: A concern for those in healthcare

MINERAL COUNTY - As fires burn across NW Montana and much of NW U.S., problems have arisen for those with respiratory issues. Doctors and nurses across the area have been working with patients to help them fight the effects of the smoke.

Polly Cavill, a respiratory therapist out of the Clark Fork Valley Hospital, has reported an increase in visits from patients with chronic lung disease or asthma who live in Sanders and Mineral County who are either developing problems or who have had concerns with the smoky conditions.

Cavill said, “We do pulmonary rehab at this facility and pulmonary rehab is a program that rehabilitates people with chronic lung disease and that is the largest proportion of people who are struggling with the smoke.” She then said her next largest group of struggling patients is her asthmatics within any age range.

According to Cavill, the smoke is not the only environmental factor right now providing trouble for people with compromised respiratory systems. She explained that the high temperatures NW Montana has experienced, coupled with the smoke, has created harsh conditions for these particular patients.

“The things we recommend for them; first of all, avoid it, avoid going out in this, so that prevents their exacerbations and that can lead to a trip to the Emergency Room and hospitalization,” Cavill said. Cavill then explained an exacerbation for a person with respiratory problems.

“Once their lungs start to react to this smoke, they escalate, they can’t breathe, then they panic and then they really can’t breathe and then they have what is called an exacerbation.”

If a person with chronic lung disease or asthma must go out into the smoke, Cavill has been telling her patients to use a mask and to, “stay on top of their medications.” She then said that an air conditioner or air purifier is another thing she has been telling her patients to use to combat the elements.

The last measure to prevent an exacerbation, Cavill has told her patients to, “Just pay attention to their symptoms, that is one of the things we do in rehab, we educate them on breathing techniques.”