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Wildfires: How To Cope When Smoke Affects Air Quality And Health

Smoke From Regional Wildfires Endangers Health Even For Those Not Directly In The Path Of Fire. As Wil...

Healthwatch 28

Smoke from regional wildfires endangers health even for those not directly in the path of fire.

Billowing clouds of smoke from a forest fire roll over a hill and approach a city

As wildfires become more frequent due to climate change and drier conditions, more of us and more of our communities are at risk for harm. Here is information to help you prepare and protect yourself and your family.

How does wildfire smoke affect air quality?

Wildfire smoke contributes greatly to poor air quality. Just like pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas, wildfires create hazardous gases and tiny particles of varying sizes that are harmful to breathe. Wildfire smoke also contains other toxins that come from burning buildings and chemical storage.

Smoke carried by weather patterns and jet streams can cross state and national boundaries, traveling to distant regions.

How does wildfire smoke affect our health?

The small particles in wildfire smoke –– known as particulate matter, or PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1 –– are the most worrisome to our health. When we breathe them in, these particles can travel deep into the lungs and sometimes into the bloodstream.

The health effects of wildfire smoke include eye and skin irritation, coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. Other possible serious health effects include heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes.

Who needs to be especially careful?

Those most at risk from wildfire smoke include children, older adults, outdoor workers, and anyone who is pregnant or who has heart or lung conditions.

If you have a chronic health condition, talk to your doctor about how the smoke might affect you. Find out what symptoms should prompt medical attention or adjustment of your medications. This is especially important if you have lung problems or heart problems.

What can you do to prepare for wildfire emergencies?

If you live in an area threatened by wildfires, or where heat and dry conditions make them more likely to occur:

Create an evacuation plan for your family before a wildfire occurs.

Make sure that you have several days on hand of medications, water, and food that doesn’t need to be cooked. This will help if you need to leave suddenly due to a wildfire or another natural disaster.

Regularly check this fire and smoke map, which shows current wildfire conditions and has links to state advisories.

Follow alerts from local officials if you are in the region of an active fire.

What steps can you take to lower health risks during poor air quality days?

These six tips can help you stay healthy during wildfire smoke advisories and at other times when air quality is poor:

Stay aware of air quality.AirNow.gov shares real-time air quality risk category for your area accompanied by activity guidance. When recommended, stay indoors, close doors, windows, and any outdoor air intake vents.

Consider buying an air purifier. This is also important even when there are no regional wildfires if you live in a building that is in poor condition. The EPA recommends avoiding air cleaners that generate ozone, which is also a pollutant.

Understand your HVAC system if you have one. The quality and cleanliness of your filters counts, so choose high-efficiency filters if possible, and replace these as needed. It’s also important to know if your system has outdoor air intake vents.

Avoid creating indoor pollution. That means no smoking, no vacuuming, and no burning of products like candles or incense. Avoid frying foods or using gas stoves, especially if your stove is not well ventilated.

Make a “clean room.” Choose a room with fewer doors and windows. Run an air purifier that is the appropriate size for this room, especially if you are not using central AC to keep cool.

Minimize outdoor time and wear a mask outside. Again, ensuring that you have several days of medications and food that doesn’t need to be cooked will help. If you must go outdoors, minimize time and level of activity. A well-fitted N95 or KN95 mask or P100 respirator can help keep you from breathing in small particles floating in smoky air.

Harvard Health Publishing

Woman Shares How Her Genius 5-year-old Daughter Found A Way To Secretly Extend Her Screen Time

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Israeli Drone Attacks In Southern Lebanon Kill One, Injure Several People

Three Israeli Attacks Hit Bint Jbeil, Shebaa And Chaqra. Israel Has Carried Out Four Drone Attacks On Towns In Southern Lebanon, R...

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Three Israeli attacks hit Bint Jbeil, Shebaa and Chaqra. Israel has carried out four drone attacks on towns in southern Lebanon, resulting in a death and several injured, in the latest wave of near-daily Israeli violations of the November ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. An “Israeli enemy drone attack on a vehicle” in the Saf al-Hawa area in the city of Bint Jbeil “killed one person and wounded two others”, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said in a statement on Saturday carried by the official National News Agency (NNA), noting the toll was expected to rise. A second attack in the Bint Jbeil area followed. Earlier Saturday, the ministry also reported that a separate Israeli drone attack wounded one person in Shebaa, with the NNA saying that raid hit a house. Shebaa is located across two steep, rocky mountainsides that straddle Lebanon’s borders with Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel also launched a drone attack on the town of Chaqra, in the Bint Jbeil District. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said two people were wounded in the attack. بالفيديو: جريحان جراء الغارة على سيارة في بلدة شقرا https://t.co/nFqlLDgefI pic.twitter.com/iO1vlgQbh7 — Cedar News (@cedar_news) July 5, 2025 Translation: Video: Two injured due to the air raid on a car in the town of Chaqra. Israel has kept up its bombardment of Lebanon on a near daily basis, despite a November 27 US-brokered ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including an intensive period of the war that left the Iran-aligned group severely weakened. Israel says its air raids are targeting officials and facilities of Hezbollah and other groups. Hezbollah has claimed only one strike fired across the border since the ceasefire. Most of the Israeli strikes have been in southern Lebanon, but Israel has also struck Beirut’s southern suburbs several times since the ceasefire, destroying residential buildings and prompting panic and chaos among residents fleeing the area. On Thursday, an Israeli strike on a vehicle at the southern entrance of Beirut, close to the country’s only commercial airport, killed one man and wounded three other people, Lebanon said, as the Israeli army claimed it hit a “terrorist” working for Iran. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region. Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five locations in southern Lebanon that it deems strategic. Israel has warned that it will keep attacking Lebanon until Hezbollah has been disarmed. Nearly 250 people have been killed and 609 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon between November 28 – the day after the ceasefire took effect – and the end of June, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. A United States envoy is expected in Beirut early next week to discuss with Lebanon’s leadership efforts to pressure Hezbollah to relinquish its arms to the state. Hezbollah has rejected a US proposal to disarm by November, calling it “suicidal” amid daily Israeli attacks. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly called on the US and France to rein in Israel’s attacks, noting that disarming Hezbollah is a “sensitive, delicate issue”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Swimming Lessons Save Lives: What Parents Should Know

Swimming Lessons Help Prevent Drowning — The Leading Cause Of Death For Children Ages 1 To 4. Before G...

Healthwatch 20

Swimming lessons help prevent drowning — the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.

Four children in the shallow end of the pool having a swimming lesson with their instructor; children are standing in the water holding up blue kick boards

Before going any further, here's the main thing parents should know about swimming lessons: all children should have them.

Every year, over 4,500 people die from drowning in the United States — and, in fact, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. Swimming lessons can't prevent all of those deaths, but they can prevent a lot of them. A child doesn't need to be able to swim butterfly or do flip turns, but the ability to get back to the surface, float, tread water, and swim to where they can stand or grab onto something can save a life.

10 things parents should know about swimming lessons

As you think about swimming lessons, it's important to know:

1. Children don't really have the cognitive skills to learn to swim until they are around 4 years old. They need to be able to listen, follow directions, and retain what they've learned, and that's usually around 4 years old, with some kids being ready a little earlier.

2. That said, swim lessons between 1 and 4 years old can be useful. Not only are some kids simply ready earlier, younger children can learn some skills that can be useful if they fall into the water, like getting back to the side of a pool.

3. The pool or beach where children learn must be safe. This sounds obvious, but safety isn't something you can assume; you need to check it out for yourself. The area should be clean and well maintained. There should be lifeguards that aren't involved in teaching (since teachers can't be looking at everyone at all times). There should be something that marks off areas of deeper water, and something to prevent children from getting into those deeper areas. There should be lifesaving and first aid equipment handy, and posted safety rules.

4. The teachers should be trained. Again, this sounds obvious — but it's not always the case. Parents should ask about how teachers are trained and evaluated, and whether it's under the guidelines of an agency such as the Red Cross or the YMCA.

5. The ratio of kids to teachers should be appropriate. Preferably, it should be as low as possible, especially for young children and new swimmers. In those cases, the teacher should be able to have all children within arm's reach and be able to watch the whole group. As children gain skills the group can get a bit bigger, but there should never be more than the teacher can safely supervise.

6. There should be a curriculum and a progression — and children should be placed based on their ability. In general, swim lessons progress from getting used to the water all the way to becoming proficient at different strokes. There should be a clear way that children are assessed, and a clear plan for moving them ahead in their skills.

7. Parents should be able to watch for at least some portion. You should be able to see for yourself what is going on in the class. It's not always useful or helpful for parents to be right there the whole time, as it can be distracting for children, but you should be able to watch at least the beginning and end of a lesson. Many pools have an observation window or deck.

8. Flotation devices should be used thoughtfully. There is a lot of debate about the use of "bubbles" or other flotation devices to help children learn to swim. They can be very helpful with keeping children safe at the beginning, and helping them learn proper positioning and stroke mechanics instead of swimming frantically to stay afloat, but if they are used, the lessons should be designed to gradually decrease any reliance on them.

9. Being scared of the water isn't a reason not to take, or to quit, swimming lessons. It's common and normal to be afraid of the water, and some children are more afraid than others. While you don't want to force a child to do something they are terrified of doing, giving up isn't a good idea either. Start more gradually, with lots of positive reinforcement. The swim teacher should be willing to help.

10. Just because a child can swim doesn't mean he can't drown. Children can get tired, hurt, trapped, snagged, or disoriented. Even strong swimmers can get into trouble. While swimming lessons help save lives, children should always, always be supervised around water, and should wear life jackets for boating and other water sports.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has helpful information on preventing drowning. The American Red Cross offers an online water safety course for caregivers and parents and water safety videos for children. Many public pools and organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA offer swimming classes for all ages.