SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The General Directorate of Public Health of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) has reminded the population of the main recommendations to take into account in the event of forest fire episodes such as the one that is currently active on the island of Tenerife.
In this sense, specialists insist that the smoke from forest fires is made up of a mixture of gases and small particles that are emitted by the combustion of vegetation, construction materials and other types of materials, and can produce respiratory effects in healthy and vulnerable people.
Given this situation, a series of recommendations are transmitted to the population residing in the areas close to the Arafo and Candelaria forest fire in the face of the significant presence of smoke and ash, according to the Ministry of Health.
Thus, these recommendations are aimed at sensitive populations and risk groups in these situations, such as people with previous respiratory or heart diseases, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema; children, pregnant women and the elderly population; and to those people who perform intense physical activity.
The main symptoms that these people can present are coughing, eye, nose or throat irritation; difficulty breathing deeply; chest discomfort; palpitations, fatigue, and aggravation of symptoms in people with previous respiratory or cardiac diseases.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For this reason, staying outside and carrying out intense or prolonged physical activities should be avoided; either
close doors, windows, if you have air conditioning, put it in recirculation mode and with clean filters.
Outside, the use of an FFP2 mask is recommended to avoid respiratory problems and protect the eyes as much as possible, wash them if necessary.
Likewise, it is urged to pay special attention to the instructions they receive from the civil protection authorities.
For any emergency you must call the emergency telephone number of the Government of the Canary Islands 1-1-2 and for inquiries you must call 012 (922 470 012).
