ROSWELL -- With the spring winds often kicking up dust and the fire season underway, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is urging residents with asthma or other health conditions to learn the "5-3-1 Visibility Method" to gauge when outdoor activities are OK and when is advisable to stay indoors.
The 5-3-1 Visibility Method incorporates mileage and landmarks to help determine air quality. The method can also be used by event organizers, coaches and recreational leaders to decide if a practice or game should go on or be postponed, according to the NMDOH.
"Using visibility is an easy way to gauge air quality," said Deyonne Sandoval, section head of Asthma Control and Health Communications.
"For people with asthma we recommend minimizing outdoor activity when visibility is less than five miles and staying indoors when visibility is less than three miles," Sandoval said.
To use the 5-3-1 Visibility Method, select nearby landmarks that are usually visible, and determine how well you can see them.
The NMDOH recommends facing away from the sun, and looking for visible landmarks such as mountains, mesas, hills, tall buildings, antennas, windmills, etc., that are about 5 miles, 3 miles and 1 mile away. Use those mile ranges to help estimate visibility.
If these landmarks are not easy to see in the five-, three- and one-mile ranges, make a decision on what activities are advisable based on your health conditions and age, the NMDOH said.
When you can only see landmarks closer than five miles, the air quality is unhealthy for young children, adults over age 65, pregnant women, people with heart or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory illness, according to the NMDOH, and outdoor activities need to be minimized.
If you can only see landmarks less than 3 miles away, anyone with the above conditions should stay indoors. All outdoor activities should be avoided, including errands. Adults in good health should stay indoors as much as possible and only be outside momentarily to run important errands, according to the NMDOH.
In such conditions, the NMDOH recommends that outdoor workers be moved to tasks that do not involve being outdoors, and anyone who is involved in outdoor recreational activities such as camping, hiking for fishing should move to a safer place with better visibility and try to get to an indoor space.
If you can only see landmarks less than one mile away, the air quality is unhealthy for everyone, according to the NMDOH. Remain indoors and avoid all outdoor activities including running errands, walking and biking. Unless an evacuation has been issued, stay inside your home, indoor workplace or in a safe shelter. Outdoor recreational activities should be rescheduled for a day with better air quality.
"New Mexicans can take simple steps to protect their health on days when the outdoor air quality is diminished due to smoke from wildland fires," said Dr. Chelsea Langer, bureau chief of the Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau. "Those steps include using the 5-3-1 Visibility Method, minimizing time outside and establishing a clean indoor environment."
People with asthma can prevent attacks by avoiding triggers such as outdoor air pollution, following an asthma management plan and working with a health care provider to establish a medical regimen, according to the NMDOH.
To aid in establishing the distance to nearby landmarks, the NMDOH has created an online tool for the public to use when learning to use the 5-3-1 Visibility Method.
For more information, visit nmhealth.org or call the NMDOH Helpline at 1-833-796-8773.