The blazes, which began Jan. 8, have killed at least 10 people, destroyed thousands of buildings and burned through tens of thousands of acres across the county. Many health systems in the Los Angeles area have closed clinics and postponed nonemergent procedures amid the fires.
Heavy smoke and poor air quality are expected to aggravate symptoms for people with airway diseases, such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cedars-Sinai said its pulmonologists are expanding their clinic schedules to meet the anticipated demand for care.
“We want to ensure that our patients have access to care when they most need it,” Isabel Pedraza, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and director of the medical intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai, said in a Jan. 9 news release.
Smoke from wildfires can travel vast distances, affecting populations beyond the immediate fire zones. When wildfires spread through urban areas, they create particularly harmful air conditions by releasing toxic pollutants from burning human-made materials such as plastics, metals and construction materials, according to a 2022 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
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