EHSB Journal of Environmental Health Columns for 2013

Kick Off 2013 With Exciting Workforce Development Opportunities. [PDF - 205 KB] – Elaine Curtiss describes the Environmental Health Services Branch’s many workforce training opportunities. Offerings include Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response, Environmental Public Health Online Courses, e-learning on environmental assessments for foodborne illness outbreaks, and integrated pest management courses. This article is published in the January/February 2013 issue [PDF - 107 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

EHS-Net Restaurant Food Safety Studies: What Have We Learned? [PDF - 220 KB] – Laura Green Brown discusses the latest Environmental Health Specialists Network findings in restaurant food safety. This article is published in the March 2013 issue [PDF - 107 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Monitoring and Controlling West Nile Virus: Are Your Prevention Practices in Place? [PDF - 732 KB] – Guest columnist Roger Nasci describes the 2012 WNV outbreaks in the United States and highlights community-based, integrated mosquito management programs as the best WNV prevention tool available. This article is published in the April 2013 issue [PDF - 103 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Healthy and Safe Swimming: Pool Chemical–Associated Health Events. [PDF - 520 KB] – This month's guest authors, Michele Hlavsa and Michael Beach of CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program, discuss prevention of health events associated with pool chemicals. The article includes examples of pool chemical posters as well as information on the Model Aquatic Health Code and how it can be a beneficial tool in preventing accidents involved with pool chemicals. This article is published in the May 2013 issue [PDF - 109 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Environmental Public Health Online Course (EPHOC) Series: Are We Making a Difference? [PDF - 272 KB] – Guest columnists Lisa McCormick and Jesse Pevear III discuss successes as well as improvements needed for CDC's EPHOC series. EPHOC is the first of its kind for public health discipline-specific workforce development training. This article is published in the June 2013 issue [PDF - 100 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Public Health Department Accreditation and Environmental Public Health: Sustaining the Collaboration. [PDF - 219 KB] – Authors LCDR Justin Gerding, Valeria Carlson, and Robin Wilcox describe the process of accreditation for public health departments. EPH is expected to be a major contributor to the accreditation process, and many Public Health Accreditation Board standards and measures specifically involve EPH. This article is published in the July-August 2013 issue [PDF - 101 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

InFORM: An Innovative, Integrated Food Safety Meeting. [PDF - 623 KB] – September is Food Safety Education Month, and authors Rob Blake, Christopher Braden, and Laura Brown discuss this important food-safety meeting. InFORM emphasizes the importance of collaboration among laboratorians, epidemiologists, and EH professionals: all three disciplines are integral to the successful surveillance of and response to foodborne disease outbreaks. This article is published in the September 2013 issue [PDF - 108 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Culture Shift: Strengthening the Role of Environmental Health in Public Health Performance Improvement Efforts. [PDF - 551 KB] – Authors Julianne Price, C. Meade Grigg, and Maggie Byrne discuss the benefits of integrating environmental health with broader performance improvement initiatives. Key tools include the Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS) and the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH). This article is published in the October 2013 issue [PDF - 111 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Groundwater Vulnerability Assessments: Prioritizing Water Safety in Times of Austerity. [PDF - 317 KB] – Mansoor Baloch describes how groundwater vulnerability assessments provide meaningful tools to identify areas that are more likely to be contaminated. CDC’s groundwater assessment tool can use data to prioritize areas where groundwater may be sensitive to contamination and process complex data to create a single vulnerability map. This article is published in the November 2013 issue [PDF - 131 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.

The Use of Public Health Informatics to Improve Environmental Health Practice. [PDF - 268 KB] – Authors Erik Coleman and Kristin Delea discuss the Environmental Health Specialists Network Information System, a web-based application platform that coordinates and supports data collection activities in the area of foodborne and waterborne illness outbreak prevention. The system is available to government agencies and nonprofit organizations to support their data collection needs relating to environmental health. This article is published in the December 2013 issue [PDF - 131 KB] of the Journal of Environmental Health.