At 7:00 this morning, the air quality index in the Detroit area was 317. This is considered hazardous for all people, not just sensitive groups. They are advising everyone to stay indoors and reduce activity levels.
As a heart transplant recipient, I can tell you that I feel the impact of this air quality. Just walking around my house or talking for too long is making me feel short of breath. Many of my non-transplant friends with asthma or other respiratory conditions are also having difficulty breathing.
Although we cannot do anything about the wildfires and the smoke, there are steps that we can take to protect ourselves. This is especially important for people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and young children.
- Stay indoors. If it is not essential to go outside today, stay indoors.
- Keep your windows closed.
- Run your AC if you have it.
- Replace the filter on your AC with a HEPA filter.
- Use an air purifier with a HEPA filter rated for wildfire smoke.
- Avoid vigorous outdoor activities.
- Keep outdoor activities short.
- Consider moving physical activities indoors or reschedule them.
- Wear a mask, rated N95 or higher, if you must be outdoors.
- Choose less strenuous activities (like walking instead of running) so you don’t have to breathe as hard.
- Shorten the amount of time you are active outdoors.
Please share this information with your family and friends to help them get through this latest wave of wildfire smoke. This summer is forecasted to continue to be hot and dry, and this is likely not the last time we will need to protect ourselves from the effects of smoke and air pollution.
You can view your local air quality index here: AQI
I will be staying indoors today and engaging in my favorite non-vigorous indoor activity – taking a nap!
Dawn Levitt, Author 