Thread by @reveal

1/ The smoke from this month’s devastating #CampFire has lifted from many parts of California.

Yet our new analysis of hospital data suggests health problems could just be starting. revealnews.org/article/the-sm…

2/ We analyzed hospital data from last year’s Tubbs fire, California’s second most destructive blaze.

We found that 3 to 5 months after the flames died out, regional emergency rooms saw a 20 percent spike in patients with heart and lung problems.

3/ In January through March 2018, 7 of 9 hospitals in Sonoma and Napa counties – areas close to the heart of the blaze – saw upticks in patients admitted for heart and respiratory ailments compared to the same months in 2017 and 2016.

4/ At Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center, emergency room visits for respiratory issues jumped by 37 percent from the previous year.

At nearby Petaluma Valley Hospital, patients with heart conditions increased by a full 50 percent.

5/ Medical experts say these findings raise troubling questions about the long-term health effects of wildfires. We don’t know much about these effects conclusively.

6/ What we do know is that the effects of smoke disproportionately threaten already-vulnerable populations: children, the elderly and people of color.

7/ Adult asthma rates are highest for mixed-race and Black Americans in California, while heart diseases plague the state’s poorest and least educated, according to the CDC and the California Department of Public Health.

8/ And with children, particles found within wildfire smoke can find their way into developing lungs and bloodstreams, potentially impacting growth.

9/ It’s too soon after the Camp and Woolsey fires for anyone to determine what the long term effects of the smoke will be. But in the case of the Camp Fire (four times bigger than Tubbs), some ERs in Northern California are already reporting increases in heart and lung ailments.

10/ Robin Scott, an ER director close to the blaze, said she saw a 43 percent increase in respiratory diagnoses compared to the previous two weeks.

11/ In Berkeley, Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Medical Center reported an increase in patients with complaints “that appear to be connected to the poor air quality,” including asthma, eczema and congestive heart failure.

12/ These effects have experts worried. As climate change increases the regularity and power of wildfires, displacing and killing more people, it’s likely more will be harmed by smoke, too.

13/ We’re continuing to track the destructive impacts of wildfire smoke and other environmental events triggered by global warming.

If you’ve experienced any health problems you think are linked to smoke, we want to hear from you.

Text “fire” to 63735 and tell your story.

14/ And subscribe to our newsletter for new reporting on this issue as soon as it comes out. revealnews.org/newsletter