PORT TOWNSEND — Cooling and clean air centers in Jefferson County are planning to extend their hours in the case of dangerously high heat or poor air quality events.
The last few years have not seen the level of smoke present in 2020, Jefferson County Environmental Public Health Specialist Lara Gaasland-Tatro said in a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners on Monday. This summer is forecasted to be both hotter and smokier than it has been for the last few years, she added.
“Here in Jefferson County, although it’s historically very temperate, we are experiencing greater heat,” Gaasland-Tatro said.
In her first slide, Gaasland-Tatro showed Jefferson Healthcare data from the summer months of 2023. The percentage of emergency room visits due to heat got to higher than 6 percent in July and higher than 11 percent in August.
County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour asked what kinds of heat-related illnesses were showing up in the emergency room.
“For heat, it’s often direct heat illness, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, but it can also be heat making other conditions worse,” Gaasland-Tatro said. “We have a lot of elderly (residents) who have a lot of other conditions, which can be made worse by high heat. That’s one of the reasons why we’re particularly high-risk here.”
Gaasland-Tatro said the numbers are likely higher when considering the way heat can impair cognition or cause individuals to become clumsy.
“There’s a greater increase in trips, falls, work accidents, recreational injuries, things like that, when it’s high heat,” she said.
Neither the infrastructure nor people’s bodies are adaptable to high heat in the typically temperate environment, Gaasland-Tatro said.
Director of Public Health Apple Martine said small children also are particularly vulnerable to high heat events.
“(They) may not come with as many comorbidities that are exacerbated by heat, but definitely suffer when the heat is high,” Martine said. “We do a lot of education with parents about how to safeguard kids around heat.”
South county and even Chimacum can be as much as 10 degrees warmer than Port Townsend, Gaasland-Tatro said.
In addition to tracking heat, public health monitors the air quality index (AQI) on airnow.gov.
The AQI has six categories ranging from zero to 500: Green runs from 0-50 and means healthy, yellow runs from 51-100 and means moderate, orange runs from 101-150 and means unhealthy for sensitive groups, red runs from 151-200 and means unhealthy, purple runs from 201-300 and means very unhealthy, and maroon runs from 300 or higher and means hazardous.
For more details about AQI designations, go to https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics.
“(It) tells us how clean the air is based on the smaller particles that can get into your lungs and cross into your blood, cross the blood-brain barrier,” Gaasland-Tatro said.
Eleven facilities in Jefferson County are registered with public health as cooling and clean air centers, according to Gaasland-Tatro’s presentation.
“We provide portable air cleaners and spare filters to these locations, as they want and need them, air conditioner units and informational materials to hand out, and technical assistance,” Gaasland-Tatro said. “We do the recommendations and requests for extending hours. We’ll provide bottled water and shelf-stable snacks, if they request, during an event.”
New this year, centers that have requested them have or will receive sandwich boards to indicate the facilities as cooling and clean air centers. Also, the county is providing air quality flags for facilities’ flag poles, which can indicate the conditions based on the colors in the AQI.
Cooling and clean air centers in unincorporated Jefferson County include:
• Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101, Brinnon.
• Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101, Quilcene.
• Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum.
The three community centers have contracted with the county for extended open hours in cases of extreme heat or poor air quality, Gaasland-Tatro said.
• Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock-Irondale.
Cooling and clean air centers in Port Townsend include:
• Port Townsend Library, 1220 Lawrence St.
• The Recovery Cafe, 939 Kearney St.
• The Nest, 1119 Lawrence St.
• Port Townsend Recreation Center is available for cooling and getting out of bad air quality for youth and people with children, 620 Tyler St.
• Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave.
New on the list this year, the church has air conditioning and a hospital-grade air filtration system, installed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gaasland-Tatro said. The location is recommended for individuals with asthma and other health conditions. The church is also open to extending its hours but would do so as volunteers.
“These locations all have regular open hours,” Gaasland-Tatro said. “It’s all voluntary. They are fantastic partners to work with.”
Public health also recommends that people with air conditioning or air filtration systems invite their friends and neighbors to visit.
In January, state funds awarded to the county’s department of emergency management for paying staff at extended hours shelters were cancelled, Gaasland-Tatro said.
“We’ve set aside some foundational public health funding to be able to reimburse for extended hours, specifically for staff time and a little bit for supplies,” Gaasland-Tatro said.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
