Child Care Health Alert - Wildfire Smoke
Certain parts of Snohomish County are currently experiencing smoke that is within the unhealthy for sensitive groups or unhealthy for all ranges.
Outdoor air quality is measured using a color scale called the Air Quality Index (AQI) - green (good), yellow (moderate), orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups which includes children), red (unhealthy for everyone), and purple (very unhealthy). When the air quality in our region is in the orange to purple range, your child care should keep children and staff indoors. For certain children with health conditions, they should even stay inside when the level is moderate (yellow). You can check the current conditions on the Washington Smoke Blog website: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/. It is important to check often since conditions can change rapidly.
The Washington Air Quality Guide for School & Child Care Activities provides recommendations to protect children and youth during school activities and can be applied to child care, before/after school programs, camps, and sports programs for children and youth (18 years and younger) by considering the duration and intensity of outdoor activities. With the smoke levels high outside, windows should be kept closed as much as possible. HVAC/Ventilation systems should be set to recirculate air rather than bring in outside air. A DIY box fan filter can improve indoor air quality in a single room. Filtering indoor air is an effective way to reduce fine particles from wildfire smoke.
For more information and resources on wildfire smoke in Snohomish County, please visit www.snoco.org/smoke. For more information about wildfire smoke, visit Washington State Department of Health - Smoke from Fires page.
Please contact the Child Care Health Outreach Program
if you have any questions:
childcarehealth@snohd.org
425-252-5415
