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Sandstorm drives people to emergency rooms
2010/03/21 18:32:15 |
Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Severe pollution caused by a sandstorm originating in China caused the number of patients rushed to emergency rooms to rise by 30 percent Sunday, with most complaining about eye pain or throat discomfort.
Hospital authorities forecast that the number of outpatients would also increase sharply Monday as a result of the pall of airborne sand hanging over northern Taiwan.
Chang Wen-han, head of the Emergency Medicine Department of Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, said that as of noon Sunday, the hospital's emergency room was crowded with patients.
A majority of the emergency patients complained about eye pain after wearing contact lenses while riding scooters, while others were suffering from throat discomfort, Chang said.
According to the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the concentration of particulate matter in the atmosphere was 1,700 micrograms per cubic meter per hour in northern Taiwan at around noon.
"Twenty-four dust level monitoring stations in northern Taiwan have recorded record dust pollution as a result of the most severe sandstorm in decades, " the EPA said.
The shroud of sand was expected to have reached southern Taiwan by nightfall, the EPA forecast.
Chiang Chi-hui, head of Taipei Veterans General Hospital's Department of Surgery, said cardiology patients might suffer more as a result of the pollution.
He forecast that patient numbers will also increase significantly even after the sandstorm passes. Cases of asthma, breathing difficulties, allergies and respiratory infections will top the list, he forecast.
People with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases and those with weak immune systems, including young children and seniors, are advised to avoid being outdoors until the sand has dispersed, Chiang said.
He suggested that if going outdoors is unavoidable, people should wear N95 masks and goggles.
"Drinking more water is also necessary," he added. (By Chen Ching-fang and Debora Kuo) ENDITEM/J
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