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Speaker 1: You would have heard earlier in the week that I'd

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Speaker 1: caught up with bushfires in Tea about the number of

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Speaker 1: fires that we are certainly seeing around the top end

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Speaker 1: at the moment with the dry season kicking in. But

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Speaker 1: what it means is that, well, it does mean that

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Speaker 1: the air quality in those smoky conditions can lead to

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Speaker 1: risks for people with respiratory ailments. Now joining me on

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Speaker 1: the line to tell us a little bit more about

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Speaker 1: what we can do to protect ourselves, it is Anti

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Speaker 1: Health Deputy Chief Health Officer Daniel Esler. Good morning to you, Dannielle.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Now,

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Speaker 1: obviously we've seen quite a bit of smoky conditions around

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Speaker 1: the place over recent days. Doctor, what can we do

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Speaker 1: to sort of protect ourselves if there is a lot

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Speaker 1: of smoke in the air. Look.

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Speaker 2: I think it's an important reminder for people living with

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Speaker 2: asthma to touch base with the GP Primary Key Clinic

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Speaker 2: to ensure their asthma management plan is up to date.

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Speaker 2: If there is a day when there are smoky conditions,

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Speaker 2: to be alert for symptoms of respiratory the stress or asthma,

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Speaker 2: such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and to make

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Speaker 2: sure that if they have asthma, they have their reliever

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Speaker 2: with some earld times ready to go. If they get symptoms,

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Speaker 2: to take their reliever according to the asthma management plan

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Speaker 2: if they have one. If they don't have a plan,

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Speaker 2: four puffs of their reliever which is usually blue or gray,

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Speaker 2: and if it doesn't work or they're getting worse, to

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Speaker 2: take it again and have a really low threshold for

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Speaker 2: seeking urgent medical attention.

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Speaker 1: Now, tell me have you seen more presentations? Has there

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Speaker 1: been more presentations to the emergency department over the last

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Speaker 1: few days as a result of the poor equality.

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't have that data available, but we would

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Speaker 2: expect that when there is when there are smoky conditions,

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Speaker 2: that people who are predisposed to asthma or other respiratory

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Speaker 2: conditions to get a worsening of their symptoms. So it's

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Speaker 2: very important to be alert and ready to respond. And similarly,

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Speaker 2: people who are caring for children or older people who

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Speaker 2: might have asthma or other respiratory conditions to be really

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Speaker 2: alert to them and whether or not they're experiencing symptoms

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Speaker 2: in their caring role.

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Speaker 1: That is such a good point to make because I

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Speaker 1: think for us as adults, you know, if we have

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Speaker 1: got asthma or if we've got respiratory ailments, we sort

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Speaker 1: of know how to deal with it. But sometimes with

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Speaker 1: the kids when they're at school, while they may have

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Speaker 1: a puffer at the office, you know that they're able

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Speaker 1: to use if they are asthmatic, they still sort of

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Speaker 1: run around like crazy at lunchtime and might not realize

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Speaker 1: how smoky those conditions are.

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Speaker 2: Exactly. So, schools and childcare should have the management plans

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Speaker 2: for all children in their care, and parents should be

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Speaker 2: speaking to their kids to make sure they tell their

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Speaker 2: teacher if they are getting any symptoms there are. There

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Speaker 2: is a app called air Raider that people can get

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Speaker 2: on their phone so they're alerted if the conditions in

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Speaker 2: the air are poor. And similarly follow anti health on

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Speaker 2: the socials because we will put out alerts on days

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Speaker 2: when there are smoking conditions and people need to be

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Speaker 2: taking extra care.

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Speaker 1: Well, that is good to hear, and I guess if

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Speaker 1: it's quite bad as well, do your best to stay

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Speaker 1: inside is sometimes a good option, isn't it?

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Speaker 2: Stay inside, windows shut, and if you're in the car

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Speaker 2: and in smoking conditions, you can use recycled air in

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Speaker 2: the carage. Just a bit of extra protection as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good advice. Well, Ant Health Deputy Chief Health Officer,

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Speaker 1: Doctor Daniel S. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: All right, thank you, thank you,