There are a lot of data points lately, particularly when it comes to high temperatures or the Air Quality Index, but when you put a face or voice to Idaho's current crisis, it can be heartbreaking.
"I had a patient yesterday that was seven weeks old," said Dr. Ethan Sims, emergency physician and executive director of Idaho Clinicians for Climate and Health. "The patient had been coughing and struggling to breathe for about two weeks and had been seen by their pediatrician several times. They had had every test under the sun with no answer about an infection."
As you can guess, the tiny patient ended up in an Idaho emergency room.
"What is the reason we're hospitalizing a seven week old child?" he asked. "I think the answer is in the air."
Sims visited with George Prentice to talk about multiple patients who are walking into emergency rooms with similar symptoms.
"These past couple of days, people have been coming in with headaches, fatigue, weakness, short of breath or having a sore throat and itchy, runny eyes."
Sims and Prentice talked about the risks to all of us, but especially to thousands of children who are about to begin a new school year.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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