#53: Protecting Montana Schools and Communities During Wildfire Smoke Events
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Talking Health in the 406, where we are one community under the big sky. I'm your host, Mackenzie Jones, the program manager of the Montana Disability and Health Program, which supports the health and wellness of the disability community through positive community change and inclusive health resources. Today, we will hear from four incredible guests about how they are prioritizing the health of student athletes during wildfire smoke events.
Mackenzie Jones:
Let's start with introductions.
Mackenzie Jones:
So welcome to the podcast today. Thank you so much for being here. I thought it would be best if each of you were to introduce yourself and let us know what your connection to the topic of today is keeping students safe and healthy during wildfire smoke events. We will start with Mary.  
Mary Anderson:
My name is Mary Anderson, and I work for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services under the Asthma Control Division.
 And my title is Wildfire Smoke Coordinator. I provide people with information about the health impacts of wildfire smoke and what they can do to keep themselves safe.
Keri Nauman:
Hi, my name is Keri Nauman. I work with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Air Quality Bureau, and my position is I am the Community Air Monitoring Coordinator. I run our Purple Fires in Schools project, which provides free indoor and outdoor air quality sensors to every school across the state. This is because we're trying to give schools localized, air quality data that they can, use to make better decisions regarding the health and safety of student and student athletes.
Greta Buehler:
Hi. My name is Greta Buehler, and I work for the Montana High School Association. And one of the duties of my job. And one of the things that I enjoy is I handle sports medicine. And I work with the sports Medicine Advisory Council and so we deal with trying to keep, students safe. And obviously one of those, that impacts student safety would be, smoke in the air.
Jesse Zentz
I'm Jesse stance. I am a cross-country and track and field coach at Helena High. So, as you can imagine, those sports are, reliant on good air. So, we, we work with our administration and, and others to make sure that the students are practicing, that they're safe environment and competing in a safe environment.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you all. It's a pleasure to have you on the call today. We're going to start with Mary. Why has it become important for us to care about wildfire smoke? 
Mary Anderson: 
Wildfire smoke has become a major public health concern because wildfires themselves are becoming more frequent. They're larger, and actually, they're lasting for a longer period of time. This is due to a lot of factors, including climate change, hotter temperatures and winters like the one we're having this year where, there's not a lot of moisture.
There's more, bugs, that may affect the health of our forests. So, when they're attacking those trees and the trees are dying, then that makes them tinder for wildfires later on. In addition, a smoke is now traveling hundreds and even thousands of miles. So, like in Montana, where we have our own smoke to worry about from our wildfires.
But we're also looking at fires from Canada and from Washington and Oregon and California and what they're finding now. Or I should say, the research they're looking into now, is suggesting that sometimes when smoke travels longer distances, it can actually become more toxic. So it's important to be taking that into account, too, that, when we're looking at air quality, that not all smoke particles are equal as far as toxicity and that we have to be aware of that smoke coming long distances is still affecting our health.
Many Montanans who never used to experience wildfire seasons are now dealing with it, too. So even in eastern Montana, it's becoming a bigger deal. And we're having that smoke not just for a day or two, but for weeks and sometimes months. This shift makes it essential for all of us to understand the risks and take smoke exposure more seriously.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thanks, Mary. Tell us a little bit about the history of the wildfire smoke program and what are the impacts of wildfire smoke on our health? 
Mary Anderson:
I'm going to answer this backwards. But I want to make sure that people understand how our wildfire smoke program came into be from a health perspective. Wildfire smoke is especially harmful, because the particulate matter it contains, is actually a quarter the size of a dust particle, and it's ten times more toxic than a lot of the other pollutants.
They're tiny enough dust particles that they can travel deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. Short term exposure can really trigger symptoms like coughing, sore throat, headaches, and difficulty breathing for all of us. So none of us like wildfire smoke. But it's especially concerning for those who are considered vulnerable populations. So when you're looking at vulnerable groups, you're looking at children, especially those under the age of five, whose lungs are still developing, who take more breaths in the day.
Older adults. So those who are over the age of 65, women who are pregnant, and anyone with respiratory or cardiovascular issues, those risks are also high. The Montana Asthma program. So the program I work under actually applied for this EPA grant that developed my position in 2023, because what we saw was that while Montanans were becoming more and more aware of the effects of outdoor air quality, they didn't realize that those small particles are so tiny that they're actually impacting our indoor air as well.
And so we applied for this grant. It's called the Clean Air and Community Buildings grant. Because, we know that just like that, those particles can slip into our bloodstream and, they can also slip into our homes and into our buildings where we work or where we go to school. So, what we're finding is that even in newer buildings, the indoor air quality mirrors the outdoor air quality in about 24 hours.
And sometimes they're our unhealthy air quality will actually stay in buildings longer. Even after the outdoor air quality has improved. What we want to make sure people understand with this grant is, number one, the concern to know that indoor air quality is affected, that number two, for them to know that there are things you can do with your indoor air quality that can make a difference.
So we want to educate people about steps they can take to improve indoor air. And then also for those who can't, because some of these mitigation things can be extensive, or maybe they don't have access to the materials they need for it. We're trying to create clean air centers in in communities where people can go to get arrested from that, that smog.
So I can't keep the air clean in my home, but I can go to the library or to a local senior center where I can get clean air, where I can get information and where people can check on me to make sure that, the health impacts of the wildfire smoke event aren't causing serious injury to me or to someone in my family.
Mackenzie Jones:
It sounds like your program is doing quite a lot of work to ensure that Montanans across the state, or have access to the data they need, as well as information to how to how to stay healthy. I know as as a runner, I do check the air quality rather frequently to make sure that it is safe for me to participate, in that activity.
Mackenzie Jones:And so I do worry about my health. I have a chronic condition, and so I might, may or may not sometimes fall in that vulnerable group population. And that's a category I always wonder. It's like my my chronic disease is more gut related. It's not lung related. But does that make me, vulnerable? 
Mary Anderson:
One of the things you want to think about with wildfire smoke and particulate matter is that it's going to cause inflammation in your body.
So if it's if it's getting through your lungs and into your bloodstream, that's creating inflammation throughout your body. And so when you think about that, it's going to affect everything. So if you're already inflamed any part of your body this wildfire smoke is going to make that worse. So anyone with a chronic condition that finding effects and people with diabetes, they're finding effects with people who have cancer.
So it's more than just your heart and your lungs. It's if you're suffering from a chronic condition and inflammation is an issue, then that inflammation is going to get worse. When you're adding toxic particles to your bloodstream.
Keri Nauman:
The only thing I would add is particulate matter comes in various, diameter sizes. So there's Pm10 or particulate matter. I'll say PM in regards to particulate matter. But PM ten and PM 2.5 and PM ten means that the diameter of the particulate matter itself is either ten micrometers or smaller, and then PM 2.5 means that the diameter of the particle is two micrometers or smaller, and the average human blood cell is about 7 to 8 micrometers.
In diameter. So that's why those PM 2.5 particles are so dangerous. It's because they are actually a smaller diameter than our average human blood cell. And so those, particulates can get deep into your lung tissues. And once they're in your blood cells, you know, that's going to be carried across your entire body.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you. Keri, for jumping in. I know it takes collaboration from many organizations to ensure wildfire smoke information is shared widely, and that recommendations get out to the public in a timely manner. You, as part of DEQ or the Department of Environmental Quality, are one of these partners. You mentioned a little bit what you do in the introductions.
Can you go a little further and what your projects include and how we can participate in them?
Keri Nauman:
I work in the Air Research and Monitoring section under DEQ, and we have three main program objectives. Those are to provide air quality data to the general public in a timely manner. Support compliance with ambient air quality standards and to support air pollution research studies. So our big one, is the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA.
They regulate levels of harmful air pollutants, and the EC is responsible for demonstrating compliance with these national ambient air quality standards set by the EPA. So compliance is achieved by measuring and reporting pollutant levels using our statewide ambient air monitoring network. And that is our regulatory network that I'm talking about. So we measure for all of the six criteria pollutants, which are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, lead and of course, particulate matter.
And for Montana, our pollutant of greatest concern is particulate matter, specifically from wildfire smoke. So that's kind of our regulatory network. It's used for determining these, compliance, for the next and so they are like $25,000 instruments. We can't put $25,000 instruments across the whole state, but the whole state does deserve to know what their air quality information is, regardless if you're living in a population center or not.
So we developed the PurpleAirs in Schools program to fill in those data gaps that exist within our regulatory network. And that is what I'm referring to as the PurpleAirs in Schools program. So we're filling in those data gaps with free indoor and outdoor air quality sensors. They cost about $300 versus that $25,000 price tag.
And they monitor particulate matter, as well as temperature, humidity and pressure. So we're filling in those data gaps so that every Montanan has, access to air quality information, regardless of where they are living.
Mackenzie Jones:
Can you tell us a little bit more about why PurpleAirs was the monitor selected for this project?
Keri Nauman:
Our section decided to go with PurpleAirs sensors because they are a low cost technology, so we are able to provide free indoor and outdoor PurpleAirs sensors to every high school across the state. Now that indoor sensor is provided by the University of Montana Center for Population Health Research, and then Dhec is providing that free outdoor sensor.
We decided to go with PurpleAirs sensors because they are an effective way to get, a mass amount of sensors out into our state. They are accurate enough, and they provide real time data so people can make better health based decisions based off of the, real time air pollution experiences they have. The PurpleAirs sensors, when they are corrected, this is important.
They report the correct health category in 91% of the time. And then when they do skew, it is usually an overestimation. So it's still a protective it's like an over protection of health if they are not wrong. So for example you know our regulatory network might say that it's green good. And then our PurpleAirs sensor network might say at this one location that's moderate.
But 91% of the time those two key health categories do match. And the correction factor, that is one of the most important things with these PurpleAirs sensors. If you use the U.S. EPA air now fire and smoke map, that correction factor is automatically, applied to that map. And then eventually when we get the sensor data on to the DEQ, today's air website, we will have that corrected data displayed dimension.
Mackenzie Jones:
Today's air that that would be the place where people go to get their data around the PurpleAirs monitoring system that's at their school or in their community.
Keri Nauman:
Yeah, for community members, we recommend going to the U.S. EPA air Now fire and smoke map because the corrected PurpleAirs data is automatically applied eventually. We are going to have the PurpleAirs and school sensors displayed on today's air website. We do currently just have our regulatory grade, data on today's air website. But, we're in the works of getting the sensor data on it on that map as well.
You can use PurpleAirs map. You do just have to adjust the settings to display that correction factor. So that's why we point to air now fire and smoke map. And then the schools themselves, we've developed a dashboard with the University of Montana that displays their indoor and outdoor sensor corrected sensor data side by side.
So it's super obvious for the schools to be able to know, like, what type of air quality are they experiencing on their campus.
Mackenzie Jones:
And we will include all the links to the resources we share today in the website. Talking health in the 406@mt.gov. So if you want access to these resources, you can go there to receive them. So Keri, I also wanted to ask how do schools sign up for this. What is the value for schools? Is it a lot of work to keep it alive and active?
For the admin?
Keri Nauman:
Yeah, that's a great question. Our main way that we schools have been signing up for the Purple in Schools program is through the annual meeting with the Montana High School Association. Every year they host, this big annual meeting that school admin, athletic directors, principals, superintendents can, join. And we bring pre-made purple IR kits to hand out at that conference.
The other way schools can, sign up is by contacting me directly. Which I'm happy to share my email address in that resource list that will be posted on the website with this podcast. And it all it takes to sign up is, we have a collaboration agreement that is between the schools, Dhec and the University of Montana that just goes over the data use agreement.
So the data resulting from the indoor sensors is kept private that the school has access to, and then the outdoor, sensor is publicly available. So we get that collaboration agreement signed. We if you have your PurpleAirs in hand, if not, I can just mail those sensors directly to the schools. And within those kits, though, we have step by step installation instructions.
So each sensor for the indoor and outdoor takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get it installed. It's just like connecting it to your laptop to a Wi-Fi network. So the requirements for the sensors themselves is just an outlet, like a power supply and a Wi-Fi connection. And if that Wi-Fi connection is a security concern for the schools, DEQ is also happy to provide free hotspots for the schools that those sensors could just directly connect to those instead.
And then those sensors, you know, once they are plugged in and connected to the Wi-Fi, they they're kind of they're pretty plug and chug. They'll stay online as long as some student doesn't come and unplug it to charge their phone, which does happen. But if that happens, you know, I just reach out to the school and ask.
It looks like your sensor went offline. Could you just check if it's okay kind of thing? Yeah. So once those sensors are plugged in, though, they they're pretty happy to just keep going and provide localized air quality information for the schools.

Mackenzie Jones:
Thanks, Keri. It sounds like it's a great opportunity for any school in Montana to sign up and gain access to this data. That it might do a lot of gaps for, for school admin students, coaches, families, especially during sports season. Which brings me to bringing Greta and Jessie into the conversation, as they are both connected to the athletic departments and on a state level, as well as Jessie at Helena High School.
Greta and Jessie. When did wildfire smoke and air quality start to become a conversation for you? As someone that's leading the athletic departments as well as Jessie as a coach?
Greta Buehler:
I think the concern with the wildfire smoke, the air quality predated me and my role here, Brian Michelotti. He used to deal with, sports medicine issues before I was around. And, you know, in talking to him, this has been something on the radar for probably two decades. 20 years, you know, that they've been dealing with, particularly fall sports, having to manage, bad, air quality with practices and games.
So it's been around for a while, and the MHSA  and schools have been, you know, refining and working through the years to try to figure out how to best manage it and some of the best practices. And so, you know, our partnership with the DEQ has been vital in providing some guidelines and, and resources now with our partnership with, Keri and the PurpleAirs project.
So, it's it's been a topic that's been something that we've had to deal with for quite a while now.
Jesse Zentz
I've been coaching for about ten years. And, and right when I started coaching, it was something that, we were made aware of, from our administrators, but really not until about, I feel like 6 or 7 years ago did it. It was something that was written on our student athlete handbook. Things like that, to to let kids know ahead of time that, you know, these might be things that we need to deal with.
This season, prior to that, it was it was just kind of general information that was shared. If there was a smoke day, we knew from our administration, but now we kind of frontload that information. So I feel like it's become more and more of a conversation. As I've gotten further into my coaching career and, I feel like the information is, is is front loaded for sure now.
So, so parents and kids and coaches are all aware of what might happen during the season or during practice.
Mackenzie Jones:
And Greta, do you feel like it was easy to start that conversation or did it, did it take some education on your end to to get schools across the state, to also be thinking about that and really recognize it as recognize smoke as a health issue?
Greta Buehler:
Well, like I said, I'm newer to this probably, I think just because of the severity of some of the air quality schools have jumped on board. They've been good at, you know, trying to manage. I'm sure there's some holdouts that, you know, we're having practice. This makes us tougher. You know, some of those may be early on, but I really think, by now people understand the dangers of wildfire and smoke and poor air quality.
So we have a lot of buy in. And then now as we're getting more schools that have data right on their campuses, we're better able to make decisions that are better for the students and the schools and things like that. So I feel like schools are really cooperating with us and trying to do the right things.
Mackenzie Jones:
And, Jesse, what about you as a coach for ten years? Do you feel like a role model to newer coaches or teams?
Jesse Zentz
Yeah, I mean, I think it's it's all our job to model the right behavior in these situations. And, and work with our administration. I think. Yeah, being a coach for a longer amount of time, I've, I've kind of learned that process. And so I can share with either my assistant coaches or other head coaches that maybe are new, that come into the programs.
You know, what the expectations are. I think really a lot of it goes back to really firm, transparent leadership. And I feel like our athletic directors at Helena High have have been very clear with what the expectations are. And so there's really no question when they send out information, what the expectations are. And I think that's really, really important from an administrative level.
But I also think, you know, the buy in from the coaches is is really important to an understanding that the athlete health is really the first priority. Games and, and times and those types of things can come later. Those are small. In the bigger picture. The health is a big priority.
Mackenzie Jones:
And you mentioned firm and transparent leadership. How does that transfer over to working with your athlete to making sure that they feel supported, even if they're upset or disappointed that a game might be canceled or postponed?
Jesse Zentz
Yeah, I think again, it's just being very clear upfront, that, hey, we may have smoked days this year and if there's a smoke day, the expectation is that we'll get the information out to them in an ample amount of time so they can adapt. And, and so I think, you know, just being upfront with kids, being upfront with parents, I know some kids, I probably was one of them when I was in high school.
It was like, oh my gosh, I'm missing out on a day of practice, that type of thing. And I think just being clear with them and explaining to them, you know, the risks and, and the benefits of not practicing or adapting your practice like long term. What that means for you. And I think that's what being firm and transparent is, is just being really honest with them.
And, and I think when you're honest with kids, you have a strong relationship with them. They'll trust you in those situations.
Mackenzie Jones:
So I'm curious about that, how this information goes from the top all the way down to Jesse. So I wanted to start with Greta and ask her how how does that process look? How do you receive that information when a wildfire smoke event happens? How do you make that decision to warn school admin and athletic departments? And how do you communicate that message?
Greta Buehler:
Basically, the individual day to day decisions about this stuff comes from the school admin and then the coaches, they kind of handle it on their own. So like our job at MHSA  or my job is get out information prior to the season, you know, here are the guidelines we're using. Here. You know, here are some processes that we're going to use if we need to cancel a game or a reschedule.
But as far as like when smoke shows up, I monitor it just like everybody else. But the individual schools, the individual aides, coaches, they're going to look for what's going on at their particular location. And then a lot of times they make these decisions on their own, like, oh, we're going inside. We don't ever hear about it at our office because they're they're handling it.
But, you know, if it becomes an issue where there's questions, or there's like something big, you know, we have to move a playoff game or something like that, then obviously we're involved. But I think like the role that MHSA plays is we get the information out to the schools ahead of time, and then when those issues arise, hopefully they're prepared to take that data that they have and make the best decision.
You know, obviously there are certain things where, you know, if it's hard for them to decide, you know, like they'll call and be like, okay, this is what it's looking like in our location. What do you suggest? And so then that's where a lot of factors come into play about, okay, you know, if it's at 140 AQI, which is, you know, the measurement that the DEQ guidelines use, you know, it's technically not in the red, but, you know, we have a bus coming from three hours.
What do we do? You know, that kind of thing. So that's where we kind of work with schools to be like, okay, here's, you know, the best idea, you know, what is it trending? Is it going down? That kind of thing, so that they can try to get ahead of some of those decisions. And, but basically a lot of the schools handle this at their particular location, and they do a good job of doing, you know, like Jesse and Helena High making the good decisions that protect student athletes.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thanks, Greta, for clarifying that process for you and how the schools have autonomy over the decisions they make. Day to day. But your role and your department's rules to share that information ahead of time, to give as many resources as possible so that they can make the best decision for their school and their students. 
Mary Anderson:
I think it's important, as Greta was talking about, that, the trending data, when you go to the Fire and Smoke website that Keri, discussed earlier, you'll see the map, you'll see where the site, the, smoke is coming from.
But when you click on your site, it will tell you whether it's trending up or down. So that fire and smoke map is more than just what is air quality right now. It will tell you what to expect, what the. And you can even get the smoke plumes so you can see where the smoke plumes are. Across the country, so you can follow that information.
So it's, it's just so important that people are using that fire and smoke map because it gives information way more than just here's the here's the air quality at this moment. And I think that that's important as people are planning their workouts, as people are planning practices, you know, it looks like air quality is then better in the morning.
Can we do our our practice in the morning rather than waiting until after school, when the air quality may not as be as, as healthy? So I think it's just important to realize you can use that to make decisions. It's not just, this is where our number is right now, and this is where it's going to stay.
And those maps are so helpful for that.
Keri Nauman:
I don't know if this is getting too technical, but it is just a point about the air. Now fire and smoke map that I want to mention is, the AQI, it will be reported as the worst pollutant, so it may not always be reporting. The PM 2.5 AQI, it can be reporting based off of Pm10 concentrations or ozone concentrations.
So just wanted to clarify on that front.
Mackenzie Jones:
Keri, while you're talking, I wanted to go back and just get a little moment. I couldn't remember if you said the PurpleAirs are free to schools.
Keri Nauman:
Yeah. So the PurpleAirs in schools, program. It's providing free indoor and free outdoor air quality sensors to high schools across the state. So the sensors themselves, everything, it's all free.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you.
Keri Nauman:
And I would also like to add that there is no, reporting or enforcement, attached to this opportunity.
Mackenzie Jones:
So Greta, you mentioned that you provide these resources to athletic departments and schools ahead of sports seasons and at the beginning of the year, what are some of these resources that you use and that have been successful in schools?
Greta Buehler:
Well, obviously, the the guidelines, you know, here here's the guidelines that we're going to follow. As far as air quality. So we we get that out to them. And then we've also provided the air now to make sure that they have access to that. So that they're using that to make the decisions because like Keri said and Mary said that that's the site is very helpful.
When we're trying to make, informed decisions about, practices or games, things like that. And then, you know, we have some resources on our website that they can go to. Mary has provided some, practice protocols for indoor air, which is kind of a newer thing that we're, you know, starting to focus on. We've always really kind of looked at outdoor air.
So now that Mary's provided some information that we post on the website and get to schools as well, so that just probably those are the main areas of things that we get out there and then just fielding phone calls as necessary to try to, help help schools with making some decisions and some data driven, decisions specifically.
Mackenzie Jones:
And you work with a lot of different professionals in order to have the best information. Is that right?
Greta Buehler:
Well, I work with the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, which is a great group that we have here. And, you know, they're mainly doctors, athletic trainers. We don't necessarily have, you know, scientists. Maybe we should think about doing that, Keri. Maybe I'll hit you up here, but, you know, so that's a great group that helps with our organization and making decisions, and trying to implement policy that's in the best interests of students health and safety.
You know, so I, I have that group and then, you know, contacts like Keri and Mary's been helpful and, you know, just the organization DEQ even again before my time, they really helped, the MHSA  develop some policy to the point where, you know, we've had to deal with wildfire and, and smoke in the air for a long time so that other states and even the National Federation of High Schools has started asking us how to do things.
And, you know, Keri has presented to, a section a group of state administrators from the western part of the United States. And we get a lot of questions about that because of her presentation in our PurpleAirs in Schools project. So that, we actually are helping foreign policy in other states. So that's kind of nice that some of that stuff that we're doing is going to be copied.
Mackenzie Jones:
Jesse, I know that you are doing a lot of work on at the student level. So I want to talk to you. I want to hear about what does that process look like for you when you receive a message from school admin or the athletic director about poor air quality that day, how do you, who do you consult with?
How do you decide what is best for your athletes and how do you communicate that message to them?
Jesse Zentz
Yeah, I guess I'll, I'll kind of talk a little bit about our philosophy as a program and how we coach. And I think that's kind of helped us with this messaging. I think if you if you go into a situation like this and look at it as a coaching opportunity and teaching and life skills, that's always a good first step.
And so that really starts the perspective. And like explaining to the kids, this may be one day, one week in four years of high school athletics. And so, in the grand scheme of things, it's small. It feels big in the moment to high school student but when you're my age and and you look back, you realize that it's just a blip.
In the, in the, in the journey that you're on. So I think that's what it starts with, is having perspective. Look at it as an opportunity to teach the kids something about, how they respond to situations like this. So, you know, bad error to us as a, as a team and a coach is kind of really no different than like, kids in the winter and having a cold day where you can't go outside because there's too cold or there's ice on the streets, or a kid who's injured, and explaining that this is just an interruption that that we're going to work through.
And so just having that perspective of what it is in the grand scheme of things, and one thing we talk to our team a lot about is that you're going to be better off if you're 100% healthy and 90% fit, versus 90% healthy and 100% fit. So, if you're 100% healthy, your mind is going to be working right, your body is going to be working right.
And so fitness is is it's relevant, but it's not it's not going to be the make or break. And so I think however, if you're 100% fit and you're not healthy, then that can be a make or break. And so we we talked to the kids a lot about that. So when, when we have to make decisions like this I think they have that perspective built in.
So I think it's important to do that type of frontloading and really work it into your philosophy. And then we talk about reacting or responding and adapting. That's another piece of our philosophy that we talk a lot about, because that helps, you know, in competition. But it also helps in situations like this. Like if, if you react to a smoke day, you're just going to be angry and upset, that maybe practices changed or you're not going to be able to practice.
But if you respond and adapt to it, that kind of plays into some characteristics that we celebrate on our team, like curiosity and creativity, like, what can we do today, to get something out of this? Maybe we do some mental training in a classroom if it's really bad, and the indoor air quality is bad, too. We can do things like that.
We can do really low demand workouts as well that that don't require as much oxygen uptake. So, yeah. And then it's all just really about adapting our load for the day and making the right decision for the kids. There have been rare instances, we try not to do this a lot, but. But if it's a sustained, situation where it's not just one day, we will talk to kids, we'll find out who has, memberships to athletic clubs where they can maybe find a treadmill that's at a club that actually does have the right filtration.
I know some, the one that I have a membership with. They actually have a number of filters that, that are rated, for this particulate matter. And I think if they have those opportunities, we can encourage them to do that. But then there's obviously going to be kids on your team that maybe don't have those resources.
And so we find something else for them to do to keep them engaged and, and make sure that they don't feel forgotten in those situations. So really, it's yes, it's about taking that information and responding to it appropriately. Many times the kids will hear us talking about it a day in advance, like, we, we, we watch the air quality pretty closely.
And if we see that there's a fire nearby or the smoke's moving down from Canada, we generally know about a day in advance if that's going to happen. And so the kids will hear us at practice kind of talking. What do you think we should do tomorrow? If we need to, to change practice. So they generally are pretty aware of what we're talking about.
And so when a decision is made like that, it's not a surprise to them. And we try to communicate it as early as possible so families and everyone can adapt, pickup times and drop off times and things like that.
Mackenzie Jones:
And just so you mentioned supporting kids that may not have the same resources as other kids. What about kids that may have? I mentioned my own chronic disease earlier, but asthma or different health conditions that might impact where they might be more impacted by the smoke than other kids. How do you approach that in an equitable way.
Jesse Zentz
With, the content that's given to us and we know the different, colors that, you know, we're allowed to practice in, where things are changed for folks with with preexisting conditions and things like that. The green, the yellow, the orange and the red. And so we basically we share that at our parent meeting at the start of every year.
So, so all of our parents are aware of those different levels. And if we have a child that either has athletic induced asthma or general asthma, they are aware from the beginning that that we may be have a different adaptation for them. When we're in those kind of fringe areas, where the rest of the kids probably are safe to, to train at a reduced load, maybe those kids aren't safe to, to train at the same level.
And so we either adapt their workout for the day, or we find, an environment where they can do something else, that's safe for them to do in those moments. And we again reflect back on that, that consistent message to them, that being 90%, fit and 100% healthy is always the priority for us and their health is the long term priority for both the school and the coaches.
Mackenzie Jones:
I was you were my coach in high school. Yes. It's it's fabulous to hear that these kids have such an incredible role model and someone to look up to. Thank you.
Jesse Zentz
Well. Thank you. That's nice.
Mary Anderson:
There's a reason that there's about 190 kids on the cross-country and track teams at Helena High. Jesse does a great job 
Mackenzie Jones:
when athletes do practice or played during a wildfire smoke event so that it's in the yellow and you've made the decision that you can lower their exposure, by lessening the load during the practice or game itself.
What what can athletes do to reduce the overall impact of smoke exposure after practice?
Jesse Zentz
I can jump in and say what we do. And, and I'm sure Mary has a lot more insight and understanding of this, but, and a lot of this actually, I think has come from information that Mary has shared. But hydration just know that that is something that's really important. So we we really stress, making sure that you're hydrated and you're, you're drinking a lot of water.
And we, we stress those types of things pretty consistently anyway. But, but we make a bigger, effort on those smoke days that even if they're outside and, you know, a short duration to make sure that they're drinking enough water and and getting some fuel and things like that right afterwards, their body can start recovering, as soon as possible.
So that's really what we do, from that post-practice standpoint.
Mary Jones:
Hydration is super, super important. That's just going to help those particles filter through the bloodstream. And beyond that I would say, when we look at add, smoke exposure, I think I still think about an injury. And if we have inflammation in our body, what do we do? We rest. And so I think one of the biggest things we can do and have our athletes do, what have our kids do?
If our kids are athletes, is to make sure that that's a time that they're getting a lot more sleep, really prioritizing sleep during that time and sleeping if possible, having a Hepa air filter in the room. So as we had talked about earlier, that indoor air is going to be affected as well. If they can have an environment where they that where that air is being filtered, they're getting clean air while they're sleeping, which is really going to help reduce that inflammation.
The other thing we found this with wildland firefighters is that, when you get home after practice or after a day where you have been exposed, make sure right away you're taking a shower and you're changing your clothes, because what they found with wildland firefighters is they have reduced smoke exposure, about 65%. If when they get back into camp, they're getting rid of their smoke exposed clothes, they're taking a shower and getting those particles off their body.
So it's the same for our athletes. It's the same for all of us. The other thing that, I think more athletes are aware of now, but is important all the time, but again, especially during smoke event is to be, looking at your diet. So think about the foods that cause inflammation and you really want to reduce those during a smoke event.
So eating foods that are high in antioxidants, berries, nuts, looking at foods that are going to help reduce that inflammation and not adding to it by eating a bunch of junk food is also important because inflammation is inflammation. And the more we can do to reduce that, the better you're going to be. 
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you. Really interesting, approaches to how we can help, ourselves because I know there's sometimes we can't avoid it.
We need to travel to work and we don't have a car, so we have to walk. I'm in the disability and health realm, and I think about alternative transportation options and a lot of people with disabilities, may not have access to a vehicle to go from garage to work or garage to doctor's appointment. And so there are other ways, to get there, like walking or rolling or taking a bus, but you have to stand outside in order to access the bus.
And so finding ways to decrease exposure and decrease the inflammation if exposure happens. So we've talked a lot about indoor air throughout this podcast so far as I had a conversation. And I am curious to know about what has changed in recommendations and approach over the years in regards to indoor air. As a coach, what have you learned about indoor air quality?
When there is a wildfire smoke, and how does that impact your decision for the level of practice or game?
Jesse Zentz
Yeah, well, I have to be completely honest on this. I was relatively unaware of how bad indoor air can be until about. I don't know how long ago it was, but but Mary and I actually met and and she kind of, gave me some information that really opened my eyes, to understanding how that particulate that the particles start can get inside.
And really, indoor air can often be as bad or sustained longer than, than outdoor air. And so that really changed my perspective on what we're doing at the high school level, because the old school way of doing it was simply moving things inside. And running, difficult practice, just like you would or not difficult that maybe a strenuous practice, just as you would outdoors.
And we don't have a lot of great opportunities for that at Helena High in terms of our indoor facilities. But but we would still do things, pretty rigorously and indoors. And then, we've definitely changed since that information has been provided to me in terms of what we do. And so we just think a little bit more broadly.
And like I said, we have to have perspective as the athletes do, about really how big this is in the long term. And so, you know, maybe that's a day that we cover all the meetings and all that information we want to give to the kids in that day and then send them home early. If we're not 100% sure about the air quality in the school, if we do take them inside, and plan to do something physical, then we'll just reduce, those activities.
And as soon as we get the the all clear to be outside, the air quality is improving outside. Now, we do move outside because we know that that that indoor air might still be, a little worse than the outdoor air. So. Yeah, it's just, you know, the more you learned, the better we can make the environment for the athletes.
And so I have to admit that that was something that I was a little bit unaware of, until recently. And so we've made those those changes in terms of how we do things.
Mackenzie Jones:
This is Mackenzie. I think I was unaware of it. I think, oh, the air quality outside is is bad. I'm not going to run, but I'll go to the gym and maybe my gym has enough filters and an HVAC system that maybe it doesn't. So be more aware of how that's impacting my body and the lingering air quality after the outside gets better.
Very, very interesting. What about you, Greta? How has the recommendations for and recommendations in guidelines that you have provided to schools changed regarding indoor air?
Greta Buehler:
Well, I think I said it earlier that that's a topic we didn't really cover that much, even with schools. We didn't provide a lot of resources because it was the idea, like, there's that bad outside and you saw that by going inside and so again, it was talking to Mary, she brought some of this to our attention.
And so now it's going to be probably another layer of information that we're, we're going to get out to schools about, you know, some things to think about as far as if you're inside adapting your practices, like Jesse had said, you know, maybe do more mobility and stretching and things like that rather than cardio type stuff and things like that.
So, that is a relatively newer topic, and probably I can say we probably haven't done a good enough job as an organization, getting that information out to schools. So that's going to be, you know, a new added emphasis of things. And again, we do have some resources that Mary has provided as far as some things that you can do to adapt.
But that will be probably ongoing stuff from our side of things that we are going to to do and information to get out to schools.
Mackenzie Jones:
So thinking about how we can make our indoor air cleaner, or better for students, even just sitting in class, I think I was under the impression that old schools had to buy a new Hvac system or like something huge had to happen. Keri and Mary, what what are some ways that schools at a low cost can make a difference in the air quality inside?
Keri Nauman:
So with the PurpleAirs in Schools program, each school that signs up gets login information to a personalized dashboard that contains the indoor and outdoor air quality data on one screen. So, how Jesse and Greta are talking about you know, that indoor air follows outdoor air, trends. The schools themselves can watch their two sensors side by side and really know the difference between, okay, what is my outdoor air is it's bad.
Is my indoor air bad like they have the data right there in front of them. And then within that dashboard there is a recommendations guideline matrix that we developed with Mary that, you know, it says if you are experiencing this AQI number here and you want to have a recess, here's what you can, here's some behavior changes you can do or if it's this AQI number, but you want a 2 to 4 hour game, here's, you know, some recommendations on changing behaviors and whatnot.
So, the dashboard itself is really powerful for the schools in making, you know, these decisions regarding outdoor or indoor practices and sporting events and just looking at the schools that were participating in the PurpleAirs in Schools project between May 2023, to July 2024. The key takeaway is if there's an increase in outdoor concentrations, there's going to be a increase in indoor concentrations of approximately equal and or sometimes greater magnitude.
So the discussion around indoor air, it is relatively new, but it is super important for schools and community members and everyone at large to know that indoor air can be worse than outdoor air. And now, in regards for cleaning that air, you know, you can get personal, hepa pair of air purifiers that, they have different ratings and scaling for square footage of whatever area you're trying to clean.
I know a lot of the schools received, free air purifiers. I know they're in classrooms across the state, so running those is super helpful. Another thing to note is, you know, ceiling of doors and windows. So any time you open a door, you have a student go in and outside of that school, that is a potential for outdoor particulate matter to get, inside and make the air indoors just as unhealthy as outdoors.
So sealing is really important around windows, you know, make sure you have them locked and tight running those, Hepa purifiers I've talked about. And there's usually within those purifiers, there's different levels of, filtration rates. So if it's, you know, hazardous outside, you want to be running that Hepa air purifier as on the highest setting versus just on like the day to day, cleaning mode.
But Mary, I'm sure you have more to add about that.
Mary Anderson:
I guess what I would add is that, first of all, those Hepa air cleaners are gold. If you're running them in a classroom and they're sized correctly, they're going to do four air exchanges an hour. So for times that that air will be filtered every hour. And, there's a lot of research that shows those numbers for, those indoor air quality numbers just dropping within 15 minutes and a half or a half hour.
In a, in a room with unhealthy air. So they work, when they're sized correctly. Now, one thing that's really important, is to know that if I'm in a classroom and I'm not running my air filter, and Jesse is next door to me and he is, the air quality isn't going to stay the same throughout the building.
He is. Air quality is going to be in better place, especially if he has his doors and windows shut. Then he is. Air quality is going to be better than in my room, so know that it's going to vary throughout the building. You know, that's why we want to have all teachers on board. We want to having everybody using those protocols during a smoke event.
Liz Walker is a, professor at the University of Washington, and she, recommends having a handheld monitor there about anywhere from 50 to about $150. And she actually went into her school during a big smoke event and went into a classroom. And the air was healthy in that classroom. But believe it or not, she went into the nurse's office and the nurse wasn't running her, hepa the air cleaner, and it was next.
You know how the nurse's office is usually right next to the office, right next to that door, and the air quality was like 170 in the nurse's office because she wasn't running that filter. So it's really important to know that everybody that when we're talking about this, we have to just like Jesse was saying, I didn't know, you know, and Greta said, I didn't know.
It's really, really important. We're having this discussion with teachers and saying, we're not just asking you to do this because we're, we're on you to give you more rules. This is what the data is showing. This is and and I think that, that education piece, we just haven't done a great job of that in schools or in homes.
The other pieces that as, as, Keri is sharing this information that they found from over 100 schools, is that not to look at this as boys schools aren't doing a great job protecting air quality. It's that if it's that way in the school, if that way in your house too, you know, and so remembering that schools are going to do their part.
But at home we get control of our kids health and that we need to make that take that step as well. But to not put the onus of this on the school because our kids are exposed to us at home even more. And, I just think it's important not to be not to have this be a blame thing of, oh, my school doesn't care.
But knowing this is just how small those particles are and how fast they can get into our inside. And so all of us have to take those steps. But, to, to really looked at this is a lesson for life and not just for our schools. 
Mackenzie Jones:
Again, thinking about families that may not have the same resources as other families.
What what can be done if if families can't access or afford, a filter? 
Mary Anderson:
So I know not every Montana family deals with Northwestern energy, but for those of us who are Northwestern Energy customers, they actually will give $100 credit for a Hepa air cleaner. You can go on to their website and and find out where that is.
So that makes it more affordable. A Hepa air cleaner, for the size of most of our at one room in our house is right around $100. And that's what the the credit as it's $100. So you can, shrink the size of the area that you are going to, filter. So in, in my home, I always make sure our filters in our bedroom, are sleeping at night.
And that can be moved. But if, if we have a common area, that's where that filter stays during the day. And then we do those protective measures in that room, if that still is not, something that you can afford or if, if you, if you're not a Northwest Energy customer, we will link how to make a do it yourself air filter with a box van.
Just a simple box van that most of us have in our homes. You can actually attach just with tape or a bungee cord. Merv 13 or higher filter to that, box down and you can create your own filter. And they that the studies are showing those are, as effective. It may take a little bit longer to clean the air, but they do work to filter the air just like a Hepa air cleaner.
And then you just replacing that Merv 13 filter. So that's actually that may be more affordable for you. Everybody though can keep their doors and windows closed. And the other thing that I think is super important to to, talk about right now is the clean air centers were developing. We looked at the six most impacted communities in Montana and the Clean Air Center, or the Clean Air and Community Buildings grant that I work under is actually played piloting clean air centers there.
So we are giving just $1,000 in filtration materials, to libraries and senior centers and places where people are already going to get clean, to, to give them at rest that for clean air. So visiting places in your community that have clean air is also important. Knowing what those places are. Libraries are fantastic. Your kids can there's activities for them to do.
You can access internet. There's charger so you can charge your phone if you need to. So libraries are great. Think of places where people are already going, in your community and try to, talk to them and say, hey, are you aware of this? Would you be willing to serve as a clean air center for our community?
You don't have to increase your hours. It's just a place people can go to get a break. The last thing I would say is that communities like Ravalli County have actually taken this a step further. And they are providing Hepa air cleaners for every senior center in their community. And this year, they're reaching out to daycares and they're making sure daycares have Hepa air cleaners.
So when your kids are going, into for childcare, they're in an environment where that air is being filtered. So there's some communities doing some really great things. And I think that if you look for community partners and talked about this, you could find a bank that would sponsor, a building. You could find smaller grants that would sponsor your building.
So I just think it's important to use your resources for your community.
Keri Nauman:
I'll add on another resource that, people should look into is I know that there are, county level, with the health departments in your county, some have resources to provide Hepa filters on a loaner program. So I know of counties that they'll loan out a Hepa air filter starting in May. And then, you know, when smoke season starts and then at the end of September or October whenever, you bring that back.
So that's another resource people should check out.
Mary Anderson:
I'm glad Keri said that because that actually made me think of another program. So for people who are suffering from asthma, the Montana Asthma Control Program actually has a program called the Montana Home Visiting Asthma Program. Some of these visits are virtual, but what they do is if you're somebody who has uncontrolled asthma, which means you've had, an episode that has sent you to your doctor or to your emergency room, you can actually self, qualify for the asthma ourself, refer to the asthma program.
But this program is actually like six visits with a health worker to talk about how to control that asthma better. Part of that program is that in the end, you get a small Hepa air cleaner to use in your bedroom. So if you're somebody who suffers from asthma, it's important to know that that programs are available. We have slots open right now across Montana.
Your doctor can refer for you, but you can also self-refer. And we'll make sure that link is in the podcast as well. 
Mackenzie Jones:
Before the PurpleAirs sensors were added to schools across the state, how did schools access air quality data? Did you feel like it was accurate enough? How has this new partnership improved the decision making of your department?
Greta Buehler:
Well, the partnership has been very beneficial for not only us, but obviously the member schools because now a lot of schools and we're trying to get all 182 to get their monitors and get them set up. We're getting there. But before, you know, they would look at maybe today's air and they would look at, or, one of the big monitoring stations or whatever, to get the data.
And it might have been 90 miles from where their, their city or town was. And so it was difficult to get accurate information. So now with the ability to have the PurpleAirs sensors, they have accurate data for their location, and there's no trying to figure out, you know, okay, this one is like Thompson Falls would probably be a good example.
They're looking at Kalispell and Missoula. And none of them are very accurate to their location. Now they have their own so that, you know, you're using real time data and not trying to guess, like, well, over the mountains. It's this and over here is this. And, so it's been very helpful and it will be very helpful, for our schools to have those sensors, rather than relying on monitoring stations that were a ways away.
So, yeah, we're very, thankful for the DEQ and this, this whole project because it will make the decision making much easier. And it has for a lot of schools that they don't have to guess or even use the visibility standards. And it's just been a very, very good thing for us.
Mackenzie Jones:
That's wonderful. And, Keri, do you mind explaining what the visibility guidelines were at one point and why it's not an accurate way to measure air quality.
Keri Nauman:
I grew up in Red Lodge, Montana, and I remember, you know, the whole if it was safe to have practice or sports, outside or not, was if you could see the RL the town big Rock RL, if you could see it, you can have practice. If you can't see it. Not safe to have practice. But smoke concentrations vary super significantly on relatively small spatial and temporal scales.
So just like Greta was talking about, you know, I know Billings, that's 60 miles away from Red Lodge. And so that air quality monitor, it's not going to be accurate to reflect what the air quality conditions are in Red Lodge. So having these sensors on school campuses or in communities to, you know, just because it's, PurpleAirs in schools, we want this to be a community level resource, just makes decisions a lot more accurate because it's based on data, not visibility guidelines.
And if you don't have sensors, or air quality information, visibility guidelines are good. We have a link on Montana DEQ's Today's Air website on like how to use visibility guidelines. But, what I want everyone to take away from this is reach out to me, and I will give you a sensor so that you can have that data versus having to use those visibility guidelines.
Mackenzie Jones:
And Jesse has this new data. The access to the PurpleAirs has that helped you as a coach or changed the way that you've approached looking at the Air quality index?
Jesse Zentz
I think with anything, just having more reliable data is is not only good for us in terms of what decisions we make, but also just, you know, it's the parents and the kids trust in the decisions we're making. If the if the data is out there and we can point to it, that just makes everything everyone's lives easier and, and helps you be confident knowing that you're making the right decision for the athletes.
Like, again, just go back to this every single time. Their health is the number one priority. And and data that backs those decisions up makes that a lot easier. From our perspective. And you know, I, I grew up in eastern Montana and there is nothing close enough to like whether you can see the smoke, you may see it through the smoke or not.
Those visibility guidelines were difficult. I remember looking at the scratch gravels and being like, I don't know, like it's getting a little, little tough to see. But when you compare those, sometimes against the actual data that we were seeing, there were days where you could barely see the mountains in the particulate. The data that we were seeing was actually not as bad as the the visibility piece looked.
And then the the opposite has happened before too. So you can see how unreliable the visibility piece can be. And so having that data is just such a confidence building, piece that that really, really helps coaches, administrators and I'm sure, Greta, when they have to make decisions.
Mackenzie Jones:
We've mentioned the air quality index a couple times. You've mentioned the color coding, the red, orange, yellow, green. Can someone describe a little bit more of what each of those colors mean when they're when we're looking at the, the metrics of the guidelines and the numbers and how do I how do I know, as someone who's looking to see what the, the air quality number is, if I know it's good or bad or bad for vulnerable groups, or can someone describe that a little bit better?
Keri Nauman:
The air quality index, otherwise known as the AQI. It turns out the particulate matter concentration or the air pollutant concentration into a AQI value. So it's a unitless value, and it has a standardized color scale that indicates level of health concern. So the AQI values have certain break points that correspond to the level of health concern. And these categories are good moderate unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy.
Very unhealthy and hazardous. But the colors provide a really effective, this visualization tool that can immediately indicate the level of health concern. The public should have according to the air quality they are experiencing. It's on a scale from 0 to 500. And like I said, each break point is broken down, based off of that category.
And then you can take that AQI value and compare it, to outdoor activity guidance provided by DPG. And use that AQI value to make health based decisions regarding the air quality you're experiencing.
Mary Anderson:
I, used to work in school, so it's, I just wanted to say that in the Helena School District, at least. And I think statewide, the way we would use the activity guidelines, besides the athletics, was that if the air quality fell in the unhealthy range. So if it was above 150, that is when we would keep kids indoors at recess.
Now, there were kids that, had asthma or had, a heart condition that they would stay indoors when the air quality was between 100 and 150. And so, schools are very aware of those outdoor numbers. I think that we could do a better job. Parents listening to this make sure if you're if your child is in that, sensitive category, if they suffer from asthma or if they have another condition, make sure you've talked to your doctor about whether they should stay inside during that unhealthy for sensitive groups area, because schools are oftentimes, saying to kids, if you're in this group, stay inside, I can tell you, if I had asthma and I was ten years old, I would say it doesn't bother me and I'd be gone outside. So parents need to make sure that schools know that if your kid's in that vulnerable condition and they need to stay inside, make sure you're reiterating that to the school so they can follow that and not leaving that up to your kid.
Mackenzie Jones:
So I wanted to pop over to a slightly different topic, but I know as a runner that I've said, I think about the air quality and we've used the term wildfire smoke events, but does that include prescribed burns? I because I notice that sometimes there are scheduled burns that occur in public land around my community. Do these types of burns count as wildfire smoke events, and do I also need to be careful around that?
Mary Anderson:
That time of year, I've had the privilege, really, to work with, Lewis and Clark County and, our Forest Service and Dec on prescribed burn information in particular, because we are having people throughout our community, that are reporting that they're having the health impacts because of the smoke from the prescribed burns. And so, yes, that is particulate matter.
When you are putting, smoke in the air, then you're creating particulate matter. Now, do you and the Forest Service does a really, really good job as well as they can of of making those prescribed burns happen on days where the air is going to get taken out of our environment. Dec two will give them the go ahead if they think it's a day that a prescribed burn can happen.
But now that just in our tri county area. So that includes Lewis and Clark County, Broadwater County and Jefferson County, there's over 30,000 slag piles that they are burning in one year as. So that's a lot of burning that needs to occur. Now, going back to what I talked about before, remember, our forests really need this. Our forests right now, we know they're unhealthy.
We went through a 100 years where we put out fires every time we could, and we really disrupted that natural cycle of forests because they regenerate during a forest fire. And so now we're suffering from that. So these prescribed burns are actually saving our communities there for safety. But they are causing smoke. So just know that yes, you want to take those same, preparedness and mitigation strategies that you would during a wildfire, but know that also these prescribed burns shouldn't last as long.
It's just important that you're looking at air quality, because they're something that have to happen. It's kind of like cold weather in Montana. It's gonna happen, but there's things you can do to prepare for it and get through it. We have to think of smoke in this exact same way, especially with prescribed burns, when really what they're doing is trying to make our communities safer.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thanks, Mary. How do we stay informed about the type of fire that's occurring so that we can stay safe? Is it a different website than where we've been talking about today, or the same ones? 
Mary Anderson:
The fires are now.gov site? Often has the where the fires are on that on that map you can see them actually on that map.
So there is a more accurate map that will tell you when prescribed fires are happening. It's called Inciweb. And we'll have that link on this as well. The other thing is most of your communities will have prescribed burn information. The Forest Service will put that information out, and you can go to their website. And a lot of times sign up for that.
And Lewis and Clark County, you can sign up for that prescribed burn information. And it will tell you when those trends are going to occur. Now, know this, those burns are usually scheduled only about 24 hours in advance because they're getting information from DEQ about whether it's safe to burn or not. So you're not going to be able to schedule your workouts for the next month, but you will at least be able to know when those are going to happen within a day.
And that can just be really helpful as far as knowing whether it's a forest fire is prescribed burn. So I would encourage you to go to those two places. 
Mackenzie Jones:
So today we've talked about multiple resources for accessing, data around air quality. I do use my weather app most frequently. I think out of other resources rather than going to a website.
Keri, can you tell me more about. Is that accurate and what I need to know when using a weather app?
Keri Nauman:
Yeah. One thing I'll know is this is going to vary significantly up to app. So, you know, a weather app on the iPhone versus the weather app on your Google phone or whatever. It is going to be different. So the one thing I would just note is see if you can see where that AQI number and, health category is being pulled from, because a lot of the times it's a modeled AQI.
So it can be pulling resources from local PurpleAirs sensors, government, you know, EQ regulatory analyzers, or it will even pull in satellite data. So it's not that that AQI isn't, accurate. It's just I want people to be aware that you could go to air now fire and smoke map and find that actual PurpleAirs sensor that's closest to your location.
And that will be the more most accurate form of air quality information you can get. Whereas your weather app can be pulling from multiple resources and adding them all together versus, just going directly to one reliable source.
Mackenzie Jones:
Greta, is there anything else you'd like to add or share with the listeners today?
reta Buehler:
I would just like to thank the people on this podcast, just because I think it demonstrates the cooperation and the importance of cooperation between a bunch of different entities and how all of us are benefited by that. So of course, and activities, we're using data from the deck and from what Mary's provided through DHHS and all that stuff.
Then we're funneling that to the schools, the schools and give that to the coaches. Jesse can use that information. So, I'm just really appreciative of the partnerships that we have here at MHSA  that have really helped us to keep our athletes safe.
Mackenzie Jones:
That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. And, Jesse, any last words to our listeners?
Jesse Zentz
Yeah, I would just say, three things. I think, number one, I think it's really smart as a coach of what, no matter what sport your coaching is to, to get a good understanding of what your community has available, in a situation where maybe you're going to have to have the kids trained on their own. I know that some health clubs during Covid actually improved their filtration systems.
The Merv filters that we've talked about on this, podcast, I know those can be helpful. So there are fitness centers, in many communities that that do have good filtration systems. And you know, when you're signing up for a membership, they've been mentioned that to your student athletes and their parents to, to check what are your what are your filtration, techniques that the at the facility that you're possibly getting a membership to, just so you know, ahead of time, if that's going to be a safe space for you to, to get on a treadmill or something like that.
I think the next thing I would say is just rather than, you know, deal with things like this on the fly before you start the season, sit down and, and, you know, kind of go through, you know, what you're going to do if there is a smoke day. So when those days come, you're just you just act rather than try to make something up on the go.
Because generally when you have to head, it's going to be a lot better than than if you make it up on the fly. And then I, I'm not going to tell other coaches how to, to develop their philosophy, but I just think, this is I've been doing this longer and longer is really put long term athlete development first.
And that goes for health as well. I mean, that's, that's how you want to approach your, your normal practices and life skills, development. But I think when you're thinking about, health related things like this that could potentially cause damage that would last a lifetime, just be very aware of that. And as a coach, have that perspective to understand that, that these kids, really the ultimate goal is to have them live healthy, healthy, happy lives.
And so making smart decisions in those moments is really good for them in the long term.
Mackenzie Jones:
When I am exposed to wildfire smoke, I often think about the short term impacts like how am I going to feel? Is my throat going to be a little sore the next day? But I don't really think about the long term impacts that that has on my body and my long term health. And I really appreciate Jesse's philosophy is putting the health of athletes first, like the long term health of athletes and not thinking about that one day of exercise, that or training that is going to be missed.
But how my health is really more important in the long run. Brain health, body health, whatever that is. And so, Mary, what can you tell us about the long term impacts of wildfire smoke? 
Mary Anderson:
Thank you for asking that. I can tell you over the past decade, there's been a lot of research on long term effects. And this is a new field.
So this is emerging research. I want to be clear about that. But there is clear, clear indication that it's more than just a short term irritation. It really does have long term, consequences. That fine particulate matter that we keep talking about, like we said, it's small enough. It gets into the lungs, it gets into that bloodstream. It also can break the blood brain barrier.
So as, Keri was talking about the size difference between that and our, our blood, it's smaller, so it's getting into our blood. So what we're seeing is, more evidence of cardiovascular events, long term chronic respiratory problems. It's linked to some cancers. It's linked to dementia. So, we're starting to see those effects that they're going to stain across your lifetime.
So the more we can do and we know, we know that, our athletes, that we're talking about now and in our high schools, in our middle schools, elementary schools, their lungs are developing. So they're going to be feeling those effects more, and when you're more intensely, exercising, you're breathing more of which means more of those particles are getting into your bloodstream.
So it's just important to know, I think Jesse said it best. What's happening today? We want to be healthy. One more 60. And so we need to take care of our bodies. Now. We need to take care of our kids now, I think my last bit of information would just be to remember that, this podcast team is incredible.
This is all our people who are working toward the best interest of kids, and we're informed. And so to know that 99.99% of the people who are involved in in athletics or who are involved in our schools are trying to do what's best for our kids, the problem, as I think Jesse talked about this, is just that knowledge base.
We just are now starting to learn about how it is affecting indoor air quality. And our job really needs to be to educate coaches, to educate schools about that, because people will do the right thing when they have the right information, but I think we've got to give them that information. So if you're a parent or somebody else, a nurse listening to this, know that they can't change their behavior until they know, but just spreading this information, the best thing we can do is just keep spreading this information.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you all so much for being here today. I do want to mention to our listeners to check out episode number 41 of Talking Health in the 406. This episode's topic is called Breathe Easier this Wildfire season, and it talks more about the science and long term effects of wildfire smoke.
Keri Nauman:
If you're listening to this and your community does not have air quality data or air quality sensors in your community, please reach out to DEQs and we would be happy to work with you to try and get your community a free, indoor, free outdoor air quality sensor so that your community has that resource available.
Mackenzie Jones:
Thank you for listening to the Talking Health in the 406 podcast, where we are one community under the big sky. I am your host, Mackenzie Jones. We'd like to thank our guests Jesse Zaentz, Greta Buehler, Keri Nauman, and Mary Anderson for sharing their time and expertise. I learned so much today about prioritizing my health during wildfire smoke events, including Jesse's reminder that it's better to be 100% healthy and 90% fit than 90% healthy, and 100% fit.
If you would like more information on what you heard today, visit our website at Talking Health in the 406.mt.gov. If you haven't already, please remember to rate, review and subscribe. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day.