Storm clean-up hazards: Use a N95 respirator to prevent “Rockaway cough”

As many areas hit by Hurricane Sandy struggle to return to normal, doctors are noticing the onset of respiratory symptoms related to the clean up and are issuing warnings to homeowners, volunteers, and workers.

“When you go back, there are the usual physical hazards such as exposed power lines, unstable buildings, gas leaks—obvious hazards,” stressed Dr. Marc Wilkenfeld, Chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Winthrop University Medical Center. “Unstable structures should not be reentered due to the risk of building collapse. Power lines should be assumed to be active unless you know for sure that the power has been turned off. Generators and other devices can emit carbon monoxide and one should be careful when entering a confined space.” The clean up involves “a lot of wreckage, the debris can cause a lot of dust and within 24 hours of the flood you get mold growth and the spores can be released into the air.” Wilkenfeld cited the mold growth as a “real respiratory hazard that can cause a cough, nasal congestion, headaches, shortness of breath, and it can exacerbate asthma.”

Wilkenfeld recommends using an N95 respirator, available at hardware stores. “Wear it,” he warned. “It can keep particles from getting into the airways. It’s not 100%, but it will greatly reduce your chances of getting sick and is the best available solution.”

“What we know is that after Katrina, people got respiratory illness,” he explained. He said that they called it the Katrina cough. “Now we have the Rockaway cough; we are starting to see it in the Rockaways. It can be treated or it goes away if the person is removed from the site, but if the person is elderly or immunocompromised it can cause more serious illness such as pneumonia and other more serious problems.”

In addition to the mold problems, Wilkenfeld said that returning residents should be aware of hazards from asbestos. “If you know that you have asbestos, you want to be careful before you go back in, and have the home examined by a professional. That’s a more serious long term hazard.”

He also emphasized the importance of wearing gloves and boots in areas where there is the possibility of sewage mixed in with the water.

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