 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Marsha L. Vanderford, PhD, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway MS F-29, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, (770) 488-4552, mev7@cdc.gov, Rick Niemeier, PhD, Education and Information Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Pkwy, Cincinnati, OH 45226, Sharon Lee, PhD, California Department of Health Services, 1515 Clay Street, suite 1700, Oakland, CA 94612, and Lisa D. Benton, MD, MPH, Division of Environental & Occupational Disease Control, California Division of Health Services, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1700, Oakland, CA 94612.
In the event of contaminating chemical terrorism or another public health disaster, the ability to convey accurate, consistent health information to an audience of diverse stakeholders rapidly is crucial to coordinating and facilitating the public health system’s response. The information needs of an emergency responder vary from those of medical providers and from those of the public. Often, for these audiences, the immediate and long-term concerns about a contaminating agent diverge. Depending on the nature of the inquiry and the contaminating agent, relevant information may exist across private and public agencies or not at all, precipitating futile searches when time is crucial. For events of contaminating chemical terrorism these information needs represent unique challenges because of the lack of a central repository and lack of funding to produce fact sheets focused for the diverse audiences. Under these constraints work is under way to produce chemical fact sheets and guidelines as templates that can be quickly disseminated for information to first responders, medical personnel, and the public in an emergency. We will discuss the accomplishments and challenges to date, in this process of identifying and convening the local, state, and federal stakeholders and sharing resources as a working group to consolidate and distribute chemical terrorism information.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Environmental Health Hazards,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.