LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The fires in Los Angeles have killed at least 25 people and chased tens of thousands from home. They've also spewed smoke and toxins into the air for miles around. Dr. Medell Briggs is an emergency medicine clinician at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She told our co-host A Martínez dangerous air quality is one of their biggest concerns.
MEDELL BRIGGS: It's sometimes very hard to quantify how many more cases we're having, because this is true flu season. We're having a large amount of influenza, as well as COVID. There are a number - you know, if I would estimate, about a 10- to 15% increase of people coming in that already have sinus problems or asthma that are saying, I'm here because the smoke is actually aggravating my condition.
A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: And so, for example, I'll give you something from my personal life, Doctor. I mean, my son has asthma, yet he is a fire alarm inspector. So he needs to go out and work. What about people like him who have to go out near the fire, or at least around the smoke, and have to go to work in other situations. I mean, what kind of advice do you give to those people?
BRIGGS: The smoke is spreading throughout the entire region, even far beyond the location where the wildfires are. However, there are special respirators that we are highly recommending for people to wear when they are in direct contact with those areas that have been involved with the fire because of all the toxins that are definitely in the atmosphere and in that environment. The other piece, though, is that our air quality throughout the region is not the best. And so if you do have to go outside, and especially when you're closer, we are recommending N95s. Many of us still have N95s from the COVID era, and we oftentimes don't even think about our cars. And most of the time our cars are pulling in air...
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, yeah.
BRIGGS: ...From outside. And so something to consider is turning your air inside your car to internal circulation, because oftentimes that can also help some of the pollutants from coming in.
MARTÍNEZ: Doctor, what are you advising patients about when to leave their homes and seek urgent medical care, like in your emergency department?
BRIGGS: Our emergency departments are always here for the community. However, in the time of a public crisis such as this, we do want to make sure that we have enough space, enough resources to take care of those who may be critically ill. We also have many lessons learned from the COVID time period. Many people that did have medical problems, that they absolutely needed to seek care from doctors and other clinicians, they decided to stay at home, and it resulted in delayed care and worse health problems. If you are having chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, increased fatigue or anything else that you are worried about, please come into the emergency department. But if you have another concern that you believe that your primary care doctor can actually see you for, please go there. Please go to an urgent care center and let the doctors there assess you and hopefully take care of you there. And if they do need to refer you to the emergency department, they can do so.
MARTÍNEZ: Dr. Briggs, what are you concerned about long-term in terms of health effects?
BRIGGS: The No. 1 thing in terms of long-term effects is actually mental health. This has been such a tragedy here in the beautiful area of Los Angeles, and this causes a significant amount of trauma for both children and adults. Not only losing your home and all of your belongings, but also even the anxiety and fear of potentially losing your homes and having to evacuate. The second thing is those that were closest to the fire and potential long-term complications, if anything, it would be more of pulmonary challenges such as increased inflammation in the lungs. But we're hoping that does not occur.
MARTÍNEZ: And regrettably, Doctor, I mean, for any of us that have lived in LA, like you and I do, I mean, we've been through this before. We just all need to watch out for each other.
BRIGGS: Absolutely.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
BRIGGS: This is the time that we come together - LA strong - and make sure that everyone is well taken care of.
MARTÍNEZ: Dr. Medell Briggs is an emergency medicine clinician with UCLA Health in Los Angeles. Doctor, thank you.
BRIGGS: Thank you so much for having me this morning. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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