Oral

Hazard tracking can be crucial for adequate protection of the environment and public health. The past decade has seen innovations that make tracking in real-time a reality. As more and more data are being collected at all levels, it is important to think about how the data can be used. Likewise, the sharing of data to create a more powerful dataset or to help a neighboring community are aspects of hazard tracking that must be considered. Finally, understanding how the data and current scientific research can be used for government decisions and policy is a crucial step in the protection of public health. This session will explore a variety of ways that hazards can be tracked to inform government decisions. From public health tracking, to real-time ocean data, web-based tools and hospitalization data, this session will examine several different case studies where information on hazards has been collected to inform or feed into government decisions. The session will also examine how scientific research can be used to assist legislators with setting environmental policy.

Session Objectives: 1 - Learn about using real time data for public health protection in ocean waters; 2 - Understand how to use scientific research to assist legislators and policy makers; 3 - Explore ways to incorporate hospitilization data into enviornmental public health tracking; 4 - Examine two studies to measure the effectiveness of the Air Quality Index; and 5 - Understand how the data can be shared across borders for public health tracking.