SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to the winter storm hitting Friday, the gray inversion bowl seen over northern Utah this week may finally clear out.
But it’s bound to come back.
When it inevitably does, what are schools doing to keep students safe while outside in the toxic air during recess? Parents like Heidi Belka, whose son suffers from asthma, worry about children running around outside during days with inversion pollution.
“I can just see with my child that he coughs more and it triggers his asthma,” she said.
With hazy skies this week, Belka expected her son at Washington Elementary to play inside during recess.
“I thought the school keeps kids in on these bad air days," Belka said. "And come to find out they keep them in but it has to be a little worse than today. And I thought, you know, this is bad enough, we should keep all the kids in.”
Most school districts, including Salt Lake, monitor pollution levels tracked by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Medical experts say it’s important to constantly be monitoring the Air Quality Index and childrens' health during days with poor air quality.
“I would limit your child needing even to stand at the bus stop for a prolonged period of time advising the teacher, 'Hey, my child can't go off for recess right now because it's a poor air quality today and I don't want to be taking them to the urgent care later on tonight because they have difficulty breathing,'” said Dr. Richard Ferguson, President and Founder of Black Physicians for Utah.
Ferguson adds it’s important to know the risks, and for parents to do what they can outside of the school day as well.
“Being aware of what's going to be pollution at 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon when your child's playing sports. Be watchful of the symptoms your child has if they seem like they've gotten a cough or they seem to be getting short of breath and they don't have a fever and you've had several days of bad air quality," he explained. "That's where you maybe need to get that K-95 and actually tell your child no playing outside for you today.”
