MINNEAPOLIS — Wildfire smoke has been the talk of the town this week.
“You could see the haze. It was definitely noticeable,” Steve Leavitt said.
Leavitt and his crew at Michel’s Utility Services have been working outside this week putting in new gas lines in Northeast Minneapolis.
He says everyone has been talking about the smoky skies this week and luckily so far it hasn’t been too much of a problem for him and his crew.
“You know, we just drink a lot of water, keep hydrated and take breaks when we need to,” Leavitt explained.
Doctors say everyone is unique when it comes to this bad air.
Some people may be just fine, and the smoke won’t affect their everyday lives, but other people might notice a difference in their overall health and wellness.
Dr. Abbie Miller with United Healthcare says a little bad air shouldn't be a problem, but heavy exercise or heavy yard work for an extended period of time could lead to serious health problems.
"If you are overexerting your cardiovascular system, we worry about things like heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Miller said.
Dr. Hem Desai is a Pulmonologist at M Health Fairview. He says many of his patients who have COPD, asthma and lung disease have been feeling the effects of the bad air for several weeks now.
"What they mention is increase cough, increased shortness of breath and congestion in their chest, chest tightness. Those are the symptoms they tend to feel,” Dr. Desai said.
So far at M Health Fairview, they haven't seen an increase in emergency room visits or patients in the ICU, and Dr. Desai says the average person shouldn't have to worry about any long-term effects after breathing this smoky air.
"Luckily our air weather and the way the air quality is in general, on a baseline, this small uptick for a short amount of time should not cause any permanent damage,” Dr. Desai said.
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