Staff from DOH along with the Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are also on site answering residents’ questions about their health, pets, farm animals, and air and water quality testing.
In the first few days, the most sought assistance has included DEP consultation, medical evaluations, general public health information and support with the Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) surveys.
The Health Resource Center is open weekdays from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM through March 10 at the Darlington Township Building, 3590 Darlington Rd., Darlington, PA 16115.
Additional available services include access to health care providers from DOH, the Primary Health Network, Beaver County Behavioral Health Services, and local pastoral care services.
Earlier this week, DOH staff, partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), made door-to-door visits at the 22 households within the one-mile evacuation zone to conduct ACE surveys.
Door-to-door visits will expand in the coming days and weeks. Residents who visit the Health Resource Center in Darlington will also have the opportunity to complete the survey there on site.
In the past two days, DOH preparedness and epidemiology staff, in partnership with Dr. Michael J. Lynch from the Pittsburgh Poison Center, also conducted three educational webinars for more than 580 health care providers from 17 Pennsylvania counties.
The webinars provided information about what health care providers should consider when seeing patients in their offices, and how to address the real health concerns from residents affected by the derailment aftermath.
The next phase of the health care response includes personal outreach to first responders who were on-site following the train derailment. DOH staff will be carefully assessing any symptoms, experiences, and concerns about the impact of the train derailment on their lives as emergency personnel.
Health, environmental, and safety officials from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and multiple federal agencies are working together to continually monitor air and water quality in the region.
Monitoring has been in place since the incident began, including the timing of the controlled vent and burn, the fire afterwards, and the days since.
So far, no measurements of vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, or phosgene have exceeded health-based thresholds for short-term exposure.
PEMA has established an online dashboard where the public can find one-stop-shop information on air and water testing, health resources, cleaning services, how to get in touch with Norfolk Southern and much more.
NewsClips:
-- TribLive: Hundreds Of PA Residents Turn To Beaver County Resource Center Near Train Derailment Site For Help
-- Post-Gazette: PA Residents Worried About Ohio/PA Train Derailment Flocking To Beaver County Health Center
-- The Guardian: Residents Of Towns Near Toxic Train Derailment Feel Forgotten: ‘No One Is Coming To Save Us’ [OH/PA Residents Included]
-- WESA: CMU Researchers Find High Levels Of A Hazardous Chemical Acrolein Weeks After Ohio/PA Train Derailment [Acrolein Also Used In Fracking Fluids And To Treat Shale Gas Drilling Impoundments]
-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Senate Hearing: Federal Regulators Tie PA’s Hands On Hazmat Train Safety [Senate Transportation Committee hearing video, testimony]
Related Articles:
-- Pennsylvania State Actions On Ohio/PA Train Derailment - Week Of Feb. 27 [PaEN]
-- Feb. 27: Shapiro Davis Administration Opening PA Health Resource Center In Beaver County Tuesday; Healthcare Providers Webinar; Door-To-Door Health Survey [PaEN]
-- Senate Committee Votes 9-1 To Issue A Subpoena To Compel CEO Of Norfolk Southern To Appear At March 8 Hearing On Train Derailment; 2nd Subpoena Expected Next Week For Documents [PaEN]
-- Acting Attorney General Henry Opens Complaint Hotline For Reports Related To Ohio/PA Train Derailment [PaEN]
[Posted: March 2, 2023] PA Environment Digest
No comments :
Post a Comment