Hundreds of wildfires that began to burn in Canada on July 16 forced the cancellation of several outdoor events statewide and in the township because of lingering smoke.
Cancellations included a concert with Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band at Cooper River Park on July 16, a concert at Lindenwold Park featuring Chicago 9 and Movies with Metro at the Von Nieda Park on July 17 and a county police football camp on July 18.
The day before, the air quality index (AQI) for the area around Cherry Hill reached 176, putting it in the unhealthy range. But those numbers paled in comparison to certain parts of Ohio – for instance – where the AQI reached above 600 on July 16.
Dr. Zachariah Dorey-Stein, a pulmonology expert, said that he tells patients with lung problems to avoid going outside if the AQI number is above 100, since repeated exposure to air pollution from wildfires can lead to negative health outcomes.
The doctor explained that hospitalizations because of forest fire smoke can strain limited resources.
“So out-patient, in-patient settings,” he noted. “And … that bandwidth is very stretched and it can make it a little bit more challenging to parse out who needs to be really seen in an acute setting, like an inhaling injury, versus who’s suffering from injuries that can most likely be resolved without any intervention, with time.”
Dorey-Stein added that many people can end up developing issues due to smoke inhalation even if they have no underlying breathing issues. Those with asthma and other conditions are more likely to stay inside when the AQI gets too high.
“Regular people are more inclined to think (with) this inhalant injury, they will not become symptomatic from it,” he pointed out. “And I think that is true in the majority of people. But when you look at the data about who’s actually being seen in emergency rooms … the majority of these people are actually people who do not have a formal diagnosis of any lung disease.”
Because of the recent wildfires, there was a “palpable uptick in patients with respiratory complaints,” according to Dr. Henry Schuitema, chief of emergency medicine for Jefferson East; and Dr. Kelly Shiers, medical director of pulmonology for Jefferson East, but they didn’t stress hospital resources.
