Head of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Respiratory Unit, Dr. Dawn Alleyne.(GIS)
Head of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Respiratory Unit, Dr Dawn Alleyne is advising Barbadians to take precautions against the Sahara dust.
She gave some advice on how people should protect themselves when the dust is present.
Here are the tips:
Parents should make sure their children have their rescue inhalers on them at all times. If the doctor has prescribed a controller medication, parents should ensure they use it as prescribed.If your child is having an adverse reaction to Sahara dust, then that might have to be the day a parent may have to make an executive decision by keeping their child at home. But, if the child must go to school because of exams or so on, they should walk with a mask – an N95 or KN95, which filters out 95 per cent of dust particles.If a person has an adverse reaction to the dust, remote work or learning should be considered.Persons working outdoors, like in construction, when the dust is present should wear masks with filters.Consider using HEPA filters to clean the air within homes and offices.Wet crevices of doors and create tight seals to capture dust to get rid of it easily when it accumulates.
Dr Alleyne said Barbadians will have to live with the Sahara dust since it seems to be here to stay.
She stated:
“People who have asthma and chronic lung diseases that are on inhalers, known as maintenance or preventative inhalers, I advise them to use those inhalers almost religiously because those will help to mitigate against inflammation that occurs when you have dust intruding into your airways.”
SOURCE: Barbados Government Information Service (GIS).
