What patients should know about eye protection during natural disasters

The Los Angeles area is still dealing with the aftermath of widespread wildfires that raged through the month of January. Having seen their fair share of patients affected by the fires, Californian-based optometrists weigh in on what advise they give their patients on how to best protect their eyes from poor air quality and smoke that may be present during natural disasters.

Video Transcript:

Editor's note: The below transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Agatha Sleborda, OD:

Things that people should avoid during natural disasters are rubbing your eyes when they're itchy or if they're burning, avoid touching your eyes if you don't have access to clean water, and stay away from using contact lenses to minimize the risk of eye infections. During natural disasters, injuries from sharp objects, exposure to smoke and other airborne chemicals, as well as use of unsanitary contact lenses can lead to vision threatening conditions, which is why early detection and accessible care is so essential. Eye protection is also very important. So wearing sunglasses and other protective eye wear while outside can minimize the risk of irritation from smoke. Finally, stay away from using tap water to rinse out your eyes, because that water can be contaminated. Instead, we recommend you use saline or artificial tears. If you experience any pain, sudden changes in your vision, or injuries from sharp foreign objects, seek immediate care at your local eye clinic.

Arti Shah, OD, FAAO:

First and foremost, I would say if they can come in for an appointment so we can just evaluate their ocular surface and see what's going on, sometimes we just have other conditions that are affecting our patients, and the fires just kind of tip the scale. So we want to make sure that we are giving appropriate advice and treatment measurements. But if they're unable to come in, I would say, the fires, all of the fumes, definitely have caused a lot of dryness and irritation, light sensitivity, difficulty keeping eyes open, excessive blinking, blurred vision. So to definitely utilize some really good, nonpreservative eye drops on a regular basis, stay hydrated. If they're really close to the fires, we would even go as far as to say some safety goggles, though they may not have access to that. They may not know what that exactly entails. So keeping it simple, I would say mostly eye washes and nonpreserved artificial tears until they can be seen and we can appropriately diagnose and treat whatever the condition may be.

Kent J. Nozaki, OD:

First and foremost, I would say if they can come in for an appointment so we can just evaluate their ocular surface and see what's going on, sometimes we just have other conditions that are affecting our patients, and the fires just kind of tip the scale. So we want to make sure that we are giving appropriate advice and treatment measurements. But if they're unable to come in, I would say, the fires, all of the fumes, definitely have caused a lot of dryness and irritation, light sensitivity, difficulty keeping eyes open, excessive blinking, blurred vision. So to definitely utilize some really good, nonpreservative eye drops on a regular basis, stay hydrated. If they're really close to the fires, we would even go as far as to say some safety goggles, though they may not have access to that. They may not know what that exactly entails. So keeping it simple, I would say mostly eye washes and nonpreserved artificial tears until they can be seen and we can appropriately diagnose and treat whatever the condition may be.

Kent J. Nozacki, OD:

First thing, of course, would be number 1: the smoke and particulates that are in the air, the pollution, that hangs around for a long time and it can travel for miles. My personal office is 30 miles away from where we were doing the clinic and where Malibu is, and yet we had to, while the fires were going on, weeks afterwards, we'd have to keep our doors closed because the smoke that would come in would irritate not just my patients' eyes, but also my assistants' eyes. And so what we can do there is, number 1: stay indoors. Number 2 would be use artificial tears, preferably nonpreserved. A third thing I could think of would be using cold compresses when your eyes are being irritated. You could also get 1 of those HEPA air purifiers. Those would be things that I could think of. Certainly, if you do have to go outside, then along with the artificial tears, you could have glasses that are close fitting to your head, or even goggles, if it's that bad.