With wildfires continuing to burn across the region, News 12 gathered some tips from a doctor to help protect your health.

Dr. Rachelle J. Lodescar, a burn surgeon for the Westchester Medical Center Burn Center, recommends these tips to limit your risk when air quality is poor due to wildfires:

Avoid any unnecessary time outdoors, especially higher-risk groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant women, immunocompromised individuals and those with underlying heart or respiratory conditions.

If necessary to be outdoors, avoid strenuous activities or exercise.

Consider wearing masks outdoors. There are microscopic particulates in the air that can cause inflammation in the lungs. The best mask for outdoors is an N95 mask.

For those with respiratory conditions, such as asthma or COPD, make sure medications are on hand and if symptoms worsen, seek medical attention from your doctor.

Close the windows to your home.

With central ducted air conditioning systems, make sure the system is "on" to ensure air is filtered constantly versus "auto" where the system runs intermittently.

If your air conditioning system brings in outside air into your home, close the fresh air intake to operate the system in recirculation mode to prevent outdoor smoke from entering your home.

Avoid indoor activities that increase indoor pollution, such as vacuuming, burning candles or running gas stoves.

Continue to monitor the Air Quality Index and local alerts due to the smoke.

If you are experiencing respiratory distress, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.