Colored Flags to Alert Wake County Residents to Daily Air Quality

Sept. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- Wake County Asthma Coalition, Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) and community partners will begin raising colored flags* at locations around Wake County each day to report daily air quality forecast.   These green, yellow, orange or red flags will correspond with forecasted levels of particulate matter and ozone in the air each day, allowing citizens to make educated decisions about when it’s healthy to engage in physical activities outdoors.

To kick-off the initiative, 14 partner organizations will participate in a dedication ceremony on Wednesday, September 8 at noon at the Wake County Fire Training Center (5413 Shooting Lane
New Hill, NC). Fire training recruits will raise the first flag and Tami Hilton, director of Wake County Asthma Coalition, will speak about the significance of the initiative and air quality in Wake County. Cam the Clean Air Explorer will also make an appearance.

When ozone alerts are issued, it is important to take notice because it can help avoid serious health complications. “In Wake County, we continue to see an increase in the number of people, especially children, diagnosed with asthma,” says Hilton. “We’ve seen reports ranking Raleigh third of all 50 capital cities in America with asthma.”

Air Pollution and Public Health in North Carolina reported that poor air quality causes about 50 infant deaths, 1,500 emergency room visits for childhood asthma, triggers 100,000 asthma attacks, and results in 300,000 missed school days each year.

Laura Aiken, director of AHA says, “As a collaborative that promotes healthy active lifestyles, we also believe it is important to educate the community about times when it may not be safe to be physically active outdoors. Additionally, we want to encourage people to be active outdoors when air quality is good. By walking or riding your bike as transportation, you can improve your health while reducing pollution and improving air quality.”

Current Participants Include:
Alliance Medical Ministry
BA HUGHES & ASSOCIATES, LLC
Bright Horizons at Raleigh Corporate Center
Community Care of Wake and Johnston County
Duke Raleigh Hospital
Fuquay -Varina Fire Departments
Garner Fire and Rescue
John Rex Endowment
Raleigh Fire Dept Training Center
Tarheel Foodie
Triangle Tomorrow Air Quality Coalition
East Raleigh Police Substation
WakeMed Children’s Asthma
Wake County Fire Training Center

Recruiting Additional Partner Organizations
Advocates for Health in Action and Wake County Asthma Coalition continue to recruit partners to display air quality flags. Interested businesses and organizations can sign up at the Air Quality website, www.enviroflash.info, and then email Laura Aiken at laiken@wakemed.org to receive free flags.

*Different colored flags raised each morning and will indicate the following: green - no health concern; yellow - limited health concern; orange: health concern; red: extreme health concern.

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About Advocates for Health in Action (AHA)
Advocates for Health in Action is a collaborative of organizations and community members who are shaping the environment throughout Wake County so healthy eating and physical activity are the way of life. AHA works to achieve its mission by shaping policy and environments that ensure available and affordable access to healthful foods and physical activity for all community members. The AHA membership currently includes over 50 stakeholder organizations and will continue to grow as needs and opportunities are identified.

About Wake County Asthma Coalition
Wake County Asthma Coalition is comprised of agencies and organizations throughout Wake County who work to increase public awareness of asthma, its prevalence, and related health issues in Wake County; to provide education about asthma and related health issues.