16
Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SMOKE: Air quality
will be an issue for
some time to come
Continued from page 1
pulmonologist at Bend
Memorial Clinic in Bend,
people with respiratory issues
like chronic obstructive pul-
monary disease (COPD) —
including chronic bronchitis
and emphysema, or asthma,
and cystic fibrosis — any
conditions impacting the free
flow of oxygen in the body —
can be seriously impacted by
smoky conditions. Children
and adults over 65 are usu-
ally considered at higher
risk for problems — chil-
dren because their breathing
rate is more rapid, and older
adults because they often
have one or more underlying
medical conditions that may
be exacerbated.
People don’t even have
to be in close proximity to
a wildfire to be impacted.
Smoke from the British
Columbia fires that cov-
ered much of the Pacific
Northwest earlier this month
carried within it the pollut-
ants that are inhaled when
breathing smoky air.
Last Friday the air qual-
ity in Sisters was rated as
“unhealthy” for everyone,
improving to “unhealthy for
sensitive groups” and then
“moderate” later in the day.
Smoke monitoring infor-
mation is available at: ore-
gonsmoke.blogspot.com.
Anyone concerned with the
effects of smoke from the
fires or who has possible
health concerns related to
smoke can go to this web-
site to see smoke monitor-
ing data and get additional
information.
Particle pollution is a mix
of miniscule solid and liquid
particles suspended in air.
Many of those particles are
no larger than one-third the
diameter of a human hair.
When inhaled, they lodge
deep in the lungs and can
trigger asthma attacks, heart
attacks, and strokes.
People who breathe the
smoky air created by a wild-
fire can experience more
coughing, wheezing, bron-
chitis, ear congestion, colds,
and runny eyes and nose.
Dr. Elliott-Mullens reported
that he has seen a marked
increase in patient visits for
just such symptoms. He said
they are keeping some hos-
pitalized patients for a few
extra days rather than send-
ing them home to the smoky
conditions currently plaguing
Central Oregon.
Anyone in close prox-
imity to the fires or around
smoldering remains of a
fire needs to be aware of the
presence of carbon monox-
ide — a colorless, odorless
gas that, if inhaled, reduces
delivery of oxygen to the
body’s organs and tissues.
This reduction of oxygen can
cause headaches, nausea, diz-
ziness, and, in high concen-
trations, death.
For those with any lower
respiratory disease, Elliott-
Mullens recommends
increased use of your regular
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inhalers and nebulizers. Stay
at home with windows and
doors shut. If you must go
outside, wear a mask, such as
those available at hardware
stores, to keep out the larger
particulates. He recommends
that everyone curtail any out-
side exercise such as running
and biking.
Certain symptoms indi-
cate medical attention should
be sought. Being unable
to sleep at night due to a
shortness of breath, being
unable to catch your breath
after minimal exertion, and
using a rescue inhaler more
than two times a day are
all indications that further
medical intervention may be
necessary.
Many people with respi-
ratory conditions already
have an action plan for
when air quality decreases.
If so, Elliott-Mullens says,
use it. Utilizing air condi-
tioners, particularly those
with HEPA filters, can
help filter out micro-par-
ticulates. If the action plan
isn’t working, contact your
doctor.
Keep children from play-
ing outside. Elliott-Mullens
said letting children out on
the school playground or at
the park during smoky con-
ditions is the same as having
them smoke a massive quan-
tity of cigarettes.
Tribes sue state over
destruction of site
GOVERNMENT CAMP
(AP) — Native American
tribe elders in Oregon are
suing the state based on
claims that it destroyed
a sacred site to expand a
highway.
Hereditary Chiefs of
the Klickitat and Cascade
Tribes of the Yakama Nation
filed the lawsuit last week
in federal court alongside
a third tribal elder with the
Confederated Tribes of
Grande Ronde and two non-
profit groups, The Oregonian/
OregonLive reported.
The lawsuit says the gov-
ernment destroyed the site in
2008 along a roughly 5-acre
(20,200-square-meter) patch
of land on the north side of
U.S. 26.
An attorney represent-
ing the tribal elders said
the tribes tried for years to
work with the government
to avoid a lawsuit, but were
unsuccessful.
The tribes claim the
government violated
the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act.
The Federal Highway
Administration declined to
comment.
“When it’s an endangered
species, wetlands, or even a
nearby tattoo parlor, the gov-
ernment finds a way to pro-
tect it,” said Luke Goodrich,
an attorney with the Becket
Fund for Religious Liberty, a
public interest law firm. “But
when it’s a Native American
sacred site, they unleash the
bulldozers and chain saws.”
The location near today’s
Wildwood Recreation Site
was used for centuries by
tribal members to practice
Washat, an ancient Yakama
religion, according to court
records.
The tribes used the spe-
cific site on the approach
to Mt. Hood, named Ana
Kwna Nchi chi Patat, or the
Place of Big Big Trees, as
a resting stop and religious
campground.
“To me, this site was like
a church. One that never had
walls, or a roof, or a floor,
but it was still just as sacred,”
said Johnny Jackson, heredi-
tary chief of the Cascade
Tribes. “If the government
can callously destroy our
place of worship, it could
do the same to any other
group.”