After three unprecedented days of unhealthy air, Chicago doctors say they are beginning to see the toll on the city’s most vulnerable residents.
“I have seen some very sick patients in the last few days,” said Dr. Kelly Ryan, an emergency department doctor at Sinai Chicago.
One young patient with a respiratory ailment almost died Wednesday, Ryan said.
Hospitals and clinics are reporting an uptick in sick patients affected by the smokey, dirty air, especially those who already suffer from asthma, lung or heart disease or similar ailments. There is no surge at this point or even specific numbers to report, but doctors say Chicagoans are clearly being affected by the polluted air, which has been blowing down from the Canadian forest fires.
After two days of “very unhealthy” air warnings, the government scaled down the advisory to “unhealthy” on Thursday. Conditions are expected to improve in the coming days.
Public health officials have warned residents to stay indoors during the bad air days this week. But as doctors saw throughout the pandemic, many people are unable to stay at home indoors and work.
Ryan treats patients at both of Sinai’s hospitals, Mount Sinai on the West Side and Holy Cross on the South Side. She sees patients with a lot of chronic conditions, even when the air is not at such unhealthy levels. She also sees many patients who don’t have the option to work at home.
“Unfortunately our patient population are people who can’t take off work, and they don’t have the luxury to stay inside,” Ryan said.
This week reminded her of the trends seen during COVID’s peak. Just as restaurant and hotel workers became sick with COVID because they had to go to work, laborers, landscapers and others who work outdoors were put at risk this week.
At an Esperanza clinic in Brighton Park on Wednesday, at least two people were treated for an illness after working outside for two to three hours, a spokeswoman said.
Elsewhere on the West Side, Rush University Medical Center has seen an increase in cases of patients who suffered asthma attacks or breathing issues because of the bad air.
“Patients are having to use their inhalers more often and sometimes this pushes them over the edge, requiring them to seek an emergency department evaluation,” said Dr. Nicholas Cozzi, an emergency medicine doctor at Rush.
Advocate, which runs 10 hospitals in and around Chicago, is seeing emergency room patients for asthma and emphysema, a spokesman said.
Dr. Michael Lou, associate director hospital medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Palos Heights, said vulnerable patients are being hospitalized, but others are seeking care as well.
“We’ve even seen some young healthy people who have some complaints as well,” Lou said. “It affects all of us.”
Contributing: Stefano Esposito
Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.
