HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES EMERGENCY EVENTS SURVEILLANCE (HSEES) – PREVENTION OUTREACH ACTIVITIES IN URBAN AREAS

Abstract

ISEE-309 Introduction: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) maintains the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system to track public health consequences associated with acute hazardous substance release events in 15 states. The goal of this surveillance system is to reduce the morbidity and mortality from hazardous substance events. This presentation will describe how state HSEES data have been used for prevention activities. Methods: The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Texas Department of Health, and Washington State Department of Health have presented county specific data to local emergency planning committees in urban areas within each state. Results: The Texas Department of Health HSEES staff prepared information for the counties that make up both the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas. The Dallas metropolitan area comprises Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties, and is the second largest metropolitan area in Texas. The Dallas area medical community requested information to help guide the placement of their hazmat teams and decontamination units to better control and respond to hazardous substance spill events. The Houston area, including Harris County, is the largest metropolitan area in Texas. It also is a highly industrialized area in Texas and has a large number of transportation-related hazardous substance events. HSEES staff of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is assisting the local emergency planning committees of Wake, Guilford, and Mecklenburg counties, which include the metropolitan areas of Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte. In each instance, the counties evaluated the HSEES information to see where they should target their outreach efforts to prevent future releases. Prevention outreach activities in Thurston, Clark, and Snohomish Counties have benefited from HSEES data provided by the Washington State Department of Health. These counties comprise the Olympia, Vancouver, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Marysville and Everett areas. Local emergency planning groups requested HSEES data and assistance in planning for hazardous events intervention and prevention activities. Discussion: The HSEES information from each of these state agencies included county specific data about the most common types of spills, locations of events, contributing factors, chemicals, industries, and victims involved in hazardous event. National, state, and county specific HSEES data are available to all 15 states participating in the HSEES system, and can help reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with acute releases of hazardous substances. HSEES data are used on a local level to help guide decision making processes in the allocation of resources and development of prevention strategies.