* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

    Entertainment Community Fund Launches Program Supporting Entrepreneurs – Playbill

    Entertainment Community Fund Unveils Exciting New Program to Empower Entrepreneurs

    Behind the turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s story of perseverance – yahoo.com

    Behind the Turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s Inspiring Journey of Perseverance

    The other WWE star James Gunn wanted for Peacemaker instead of John Cena – yahoo.com

    The WWE Star James Gunn Originally Wanted for Peacemaker Instead of John Cena

    Quinta Brunson, John Stamos Join Entertainment and Technology Summit – Variety

    Quinta Brunson and John Stamos to Headline Thrilling Entertainment and Technology Summit

    ‘Breaking Bad’ star arrested for incident with neighbor. Here’s the latest – PennLive.com

    Breaking Bad’ Star Arrested Following Neighbor Dispute: Latest Updates

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Aston Martin to integrate Pirelli’s cyber tyre technology in future models – Just Auto

    Aston Martin to Revolutionize Future Models with Pirelli’s Cutting-Edge Cyber Tyre Technology

    Figure Technology’s stock sizzles after IPO, as investors stay hungry for crypto deals – MarketWatch

    Figure Technology’s Stock Skyrockets After IPO Amid Surging Crypto Investor Excitement

    AI is the ‘most transformational technology’ in our lifetime, AMD CEO argues – Fox Business

    AMD CEO Declares AI the Most Transformative Technology of Our Era

    PAR Technology (PAR) Unveils AI-Powered Assistant Enhancing Restaurant Operations and Customer Engagement – simplywall.st

    PAR Technology Unveils AI-Powered Assistant to Revolutionize Restaurant Operations and Boost Customer Engagement

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

    Entertainment Community Fund Launches Program Supporting Entrepreneurs – Playbill

    Entertainment Community Fund Unveils Exciting New Program to Empower Entrepreneurs

    Behind the turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s story of perseverance – yahoo.com

    Behind the Turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s Inspiring Journey of Perseverance

    The other WWE star James Gunn wanted for Peacemaker instead of John Cena – yahoo.com

    The WWE Star James Gunn Originally Wanted for Peacemaker Instead of John Cena

    Quinta Brunson, John Stamos Join Entertainment and Technology Summit – Variety

    Quinta Brunson and John Stamos to Headline Thrilling Entertainment and Technology Summit

    ‘Breaking Bad’ star arrested for incident with neighbor. Here’s the latest – PennLive.com

    Breaking Bad’ Star Arrested Following Neighbor Dispute: Latest Updates

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Aston Martin to integrate Pirelli’s cyber tyre technology in future models – Just Auto

    Aston Martin to Revolutionize Future Models with Pirelli’s Cutting-Edge Cyber Tyre Technology

    Figure Technology’s stock sizzles after IPO, as investors stay hungry for crypto deals – MarketWatch

    Figure Technology’s Stock Skyrockets After IPO Amid Surging Crypto Investor Excitement

    AI is the ‘most transformational technology’ in our lifetime, AMD CEO argues – Fox Business

    AMD CEO Declares AI the Most Transformative Technology of Our Era

    PAR Technology (PAR) Unveils AI-Powered Assistant Enhancing Restaurant Operations and Customer Engagement – simplywall.st

    PAR Technology Unveils AI-Powered Assistant to Revolutionize Restaurant Operations and Boost Customer Engagement

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

As Fires Rage, Survivors Struggle to Find Care

March 3, 2024
in Health
As Fires Rage, Survivors Struggle to Find Care
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Sarah Amandolare

With vast forestland, suburban developments, and urban high-rises alike burning in recent months and years, it can feel as if few places in the U.S. are safe from fire. Around the world, experts warn that fires are a worsening global crisis. In the United States, 8% more fires broke out in 2020, compared to 2019, killing an estimated 3,500 people and injuring 15,200.

Legislators, local communities, and nonprofit organizations have all rushed to help in the aftermath. California residents created mobile food pantries for people displaced by the 2021 Dixie Fire. The Red Cross and corporate donors are spearheading relief for survivors of the Marshall Fire in Colorado, which was contained in January. Survivors of a January building fire in the Bronx, NY, have received prepaid debit cards from The Mayor’s Fund, along with offers of help from lawyers and celebrities.

But how that response might evolve over the coming months, years, and decades is less clear, according to doctors, advocacy groups, and researchers who have experience with similar kinds of disasters. Many people, experts say, aren’t getting the health care and other forms of assistance they need over their lifetime.

Long-term recovery can vary a lot from one survivor to the next. A family displaced by wildfire could need shelter along with treatment for smoke inhalation, while an apartment dweller who escaped a building blaze could have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms or severe burns that prevent their return to work.

“We’ve done really well in helping people survive these injuries. We need more support and services for the long term,” says Amy Acton, CEO of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, a national advocacy organization based in Grand Rapids, MI.

Historic droughts and heatwaves related to climate change have led to longer, more intense wildfire seasons in the Western U.S. in recent years. Climate change has also created the conditions for disastrous fires around the world, increasing the likelihood of Australia’s extreme bushfires in 2019 and 2020, for instance.

And more people are living uncomfortably close to wildfires, because development in wildfire-prone areas has been expanding for decades. That includes zones where the natural and built environments converge, known as the wildland-urban interface or WUI, where an average of 3,000 structures per year were lost to fires between 2002 and 2016. About one-third of all U.S. homes are in the WUI, an area growing by 2 million acres every year.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have led to fires as well, because more people began cooking at home and venturing outdoors (and using campfires and patio heaters) more often. Also, wildfire-affected areas have been attracting a greater number of new residents since the pandemic began.

Every year, thousands of people who are injured in fires, including the 96.7% of people treated in burn centers, live. They confront “multiple phases of survival,” says Steven Sandoval, MD, an associate professor of surgery and medical director of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center at Stony Brook University Hospital. Doctors may need to apply skin grafts in the first 2 weeks after a burn injury, for instance, putting patients at risk for blood clots, pneumonia, and skin infections, he says. One resident who had third-degree burns in the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, CA, died from complications 9 months after arriving at the hospital.

Burn survivors can also have scarring on and beneath the surface of the skin. Over time, scars can become thicker and tighter, and scars over joints can prevent their full range of motion. As a result, survivors may need to spend weeks in a rehabilitation hospital relearning how to walk, eat, and bathe themselves. More than a decade after being burned, survivors can develop new wounds on top of vulnerable scar tissue. Many have chronic itching and stinging sensations on their healed burns and grafts, according to Lisa Rae, MD, an associate professor of surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Itching, in particular, “prevents you from sleeping when it’s significant and can be a real factor in your quality of life after recovering from a burn,” she says.

Smoke inhalation injuries can also have long-term effects. Some survivors have neurological symptoms, like hard times with memory and thought processing, due to smoke-related carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Sandoval. They can also have permanent lung damage or a narrowed upper airway that makes it feel like they’re “breathing through a straw,” says Rae, who’s also director of the Temple Burn Center at Temple University Hospital. All of these conditions can zap energy and exercise tolerance, further disrupting quality of life.

Many survivors have PTSD and nightmares of the event, and they have high rates of depression and anxiety, according to Rae. At least one-third of people impacted by the Marshall Fire in Colorado are expected to need mental health therapy as they recover, potentially months or years from now, according to experts at the University of Denver’s Trauma & Disaster Recovery Clinic.

“It is a life-changing event for such a high percentage of survivors. Everything you thought you were going to do is altered,” Rae says.

The climate change portion of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act could help stem wildfires in the future. If passed as a stand-alone bill, it could include an investment of about $555 billion in a clean energy transition in the U.S., curbing the fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change and extreme weather.

Policymakers also have an opportunity now to improve the system of support for those affected by all kinds of fires, including the Bronx and Philadelphia disasters, which are among the 10 deadliest home fires in the U.S. since 1980. They can start by acting on the growing data about long-term needs of survivors. The federally funded Burn Model System has identified numerous lingering challenges, from scar numbness to memory difficulties, leading some doctors to advocate for burn injury to be reclassified as a chronic condition by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This could expand data collection, potentially improving overall care and cutting survivors’ medical costs.

The reclassification could also pressure insurers and employers to support survivors throughout their recovery, according to Jeffrey C. Schneider, MD, program director of the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System and medical director of trauma, burn, and orthopedic rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. Burn survivors can often find relief through specialized scar-massage therapy, for instance, but their insurance may not cover it. Many patients with burn-related disabilities struggle to return to work, as well as afford in-home care, according to Rae.

“I’m lucky that I have occupational therapists here who specialize in burn and continue those treatments for my patients, but that’s not readily available nationwide,” she says. “On the recovery side, certainly unemployment and health benefits, both physical and psychological, are probably where our overarching system needs to improve.”

Schneider, who treated survivors of the 2003 Station nightclub fire while training to become a rehabilitation doctor, acknowledged that public focus on any given tragedy is bound to dissipate over time. “But for the individuals living with these issues, their issues continue. So that’s why I always ask: How can we care for these people’s needs after the attention to events wanes?”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : WebMD – https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/wildfires-public-health?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Tags: fireshealthSurvivors
Previous Post

The Genetic Roots of Pompe Disease

Next Post

Macs, iPads, and a big new iOS update–here’s what’s coming from Apple in March

World Athletics Championships 2025: Ryan Crouser, in only competition of year, wins third straight shot put world title – Olympics.com

World Athletics Championships 2025: Ryan Crouser, in only competition of year, wins third straight shot put world title – Olympics.com

September 14, 2025
A potentially K-shaped economy creates dilemmas for the Fed – The Hill

Navigating a K-Shaped Economy: The Fed’s Tough Road Ahead

September 14, 2025
Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

September 14, 2025
The Surprising Health Benefits of Doing Jigsaw Puzzles, According to Experts – marthastewart.com

Unlock Unexpected Health Benefits by Doing Jigsaw Puzzles

September 14, 2025
Foreign hack of John Bolton’s AOL account cited as part of reasoning for searching his house – CNN

Foreign hack of John Bolton’s AOL account cited as part of reasoning for searching his house – CNN

September 14, 2025
‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster – The Guardian

We’ve Done It Before”: Finding Hope and Strength in the Fight Against Ecological Disaster

September 13, 2025
AI Can Generate Code. Is That a Threat to Computer Science Education? – Education Week

Is AI-Generated Code a Challenge for the Future of Computer Science Education?

September 13, 2025
Aldi’s $7 Salmon & Sweet Potato Dog Food Has Pups Going Wild – yahoo.com

Aldi’s $7 Salmon & Sweet Potato Dog Food Has Pups Going Wild

September 13, 2025
What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

September 13, 2025
Saints to sign DL Jonah Williams to active roster – Yahoo Sports

Saints to sign DL Jonah Williams to active roster – Yahoo Sports

September 13, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (819)
  • Economy (838)
  • Entertainment (21,716)
  • General (17,021)
  • Health (9,882)
  • Lifestyle (853)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (841)
  • Politics (847)
  • Science (16,048)
  • Sports (21,338)
  • Technology (15,820)
  • World (821)

Recent News

World Athletics Championships 2025: Ryan Crouser, in only competition of year, wins third straight shot put world title – Olympics.com

World Athletics Championships 2025: Ryan Crouser, in only competition of year, wins third straight shot put world title – Olympics.com

September 14, 2025
A potentially K-shaped economy creates dilemmas for the Fed – The Hill

Navigating a K-Shaped Economy: The Fed’s Tough Road Ahead

September 14, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version