NEW YORK — As a hazy orange-and-gray fog blanketed New York City for a second day Wednesday, hospitals and the EMS system reported no significant increase in medical emergencies from the dense cloud of smoke blown in from Canadian wildfires.
Yet.
“Broadly, we have not seen a large influx yet of emergency department admissions for respiratory or cardiovascular conditions,” New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said at a press briefing. “That could change very quickly, and it may vary according to neighborhood and according to hospital system.”
City and state syndromic surveillance data, which track patterns in emergency department visits, have yet to detect an increase in patients seeking medical assistance for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or other respiratory complaints. But NYC Health + Hospitals, the city’s public system, has seen an uptick in patients with smoke-related respiratory symptoms in some of its emergency departments, a spokesperson said Wednesday night.
And if history is any indication, the smog that suffocated the city on Thanksgiving weekend 1966 suggests the current cloud of smoke could have a delayed but deadly health impact.
“No illnesses attributed to pollution,” a front-page New York Times story proclaimed on Nov. 27 that year. The following year, a study found the three-day smog had caused 168 deaths .
Scientific research has linked exposure to fine particles from wildfire smoke with a number of health issues, both in the short and long term. Children and older adults are particularly vulnerable, as are New Yorkers who have underlying lung or heart conditions, state and city health officials are warning.
Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, some warning signs have already emerged.
Hospitals in the northern part of the state reported an increase in respiratory cases among patients in the emergency room, New Jersey Hospital Association President and CEO Cathy Bennett said Wednesday. “As the air conditions persist, we remain concerned for those with respiratory illnesses and other chronic conditions, as well as those living and working in urban communities,” Bennett said in a statement. “We urge New Jerseyans to continue heeding the warnings to stay indoors with windows closed to minimize the health risk.”
But signs of negative health effects are not always immediate, experts said.
