When a rare solar eclipse crosses Park County this August, folks will need special eye protection to watch it safely.

But, asks Park County Public Health Nurse Manager Bill Crampton, “What do we do if a bunch of people are stupid and get eye injuries?”

As part of his preparations for August’s eclipse, Crampton has wondered if the Powell and Cody hospitals should consider stocking up on eye ointments and other supplies — just in case area eclipse-viewers burn their retinas trying to watch the solar spectacle.

He posed the rhetorical question to the Park County Commission last week.

“If you have to tell people, ‘Don’t stare into the sun,’ you probably can’t help them,” offered Commissioner Tim French.

While it may sound like common sense, eye safety is a real concern as the Aug. 21 eclipse approaches.

Crampton said he and other local medical providers have estimated that as many as 200 people — just a fraction of a percent of the locals and tourists who’ll be in Park County in late August — could suffer eye injuries.

“That could cause some problems at the local ERs,” he said in an interview.

Crampton described the issue as a matter of, “how do we get public education out there?”

NASA’s 2017 eclipse website repeatedly warns that it’s only safe to look when the sun is completely covered — or totally eclipsed — by the moon. Only a small part of the United States will be part of that total eclipse and only for a couple minutes; at this longitude, the moon’s full shadow will fall between roughly Lander and Thermopolis.

In Park County, meanwhile, the sun will become not quite completely blocked. At the event’s peak, the sun will be more than 99 percent eclipsed in Meeteetse, 98 percent in Cody and 97 percent in Powell, according to NASA’s calculations.

However, locals will still risk permanent eye damage if they try to watch the partial eclipse with their naked eyes.

“Even when 99 percent of the sun’s surface (the photosphere) is obscured during the partial phases of a solar eclipse, the remaining crescent sun is still intense enough to cause a retinal burn,” warns NASA eclipse site, also adding that, “You should never assume that you can look away quickly enough to avoid eye damage because every person is different in terms of their retinal sensitivity, and you do not want to risk being the one who damages their eyes just to try to look at the sun.”

You’ll need to use filters stronger than sunglasses to watch the eclipse safely in Park County.

Crampton said retinal burns — much like welding burns — are typically treated with medications and eye patches, “and once you blind somebody (with eyepatches), then you’ve got to provide care for them.”

“And a sign,” joked Commission Chairman Lee Livingston, invoking comedian Bill Engvall’s catchphrase.

Large crowds are expected to flock to the parts of Wyoming where the total solar eclipse will fall, including Casper, Riverton and Jackson. That’s part of the reason why intensive planning is underway.

Crampton said emergency managers in Teton County have discussed how to spread safety messages to non-English speakers and even had discussions with mortuaries. He sarcastically said that’s “in case people start going crazy and start beating on each other.”