Little more smoke problems coming into the ER, however Royal Inland in Kamloops is seeing a little less of the usual emergencies.
RIH Chief of Staff Dr. Todd Ring says while there are slightly more poor air quality prompted cases, there hasn’t really been a big spike in those kinds of emergency room visits.
“The flipside is that we’re probably seeing less patients presenting for other common emergency things that we would see in the summertime, when people aren’t able to be as active outside, you know, playing sports, car accidents, boating, those kind of problems that we often see a spike of in the summertime.”
He says smoke is usually a trigger for asthma and other respiratory issues, so along with the elderly and the young, anyone with those kind of health conditions should be careful.
Dr. Ring adds from a mental health perspective, it’s important to find other ways to stay active and have fun when the air quality is this unhealthy.