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Climate and Health at DPHHS
- 1. Climate & Health at DPHHS Laura Williamson, MPH State Epidemiologist Public Health & Safety Division, DPHHS February 27, 2019
- 2. Public Health Response to Weather-related Events: Wildfires Statewide Coordination • DEQ, DPHHS, Office of Public Instruction, Office of Tourism and Business Development • American Lung Association • Climate Smart Missoula • MT Coaches Association
- 3. Public Health Response to Weather-related Events: Wildfires Communication Goal: Montanans know how to protect themselves during poor air quality • Wildfire Smoke and Your Health • Today’s Air • Social media • Recommendations for outdoor activities for schools and childcare facilities • Communication toolkit for local health departments
- 4. Public Health Response to Weather-related Events: Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) Climate change & HABS • Warmer water temps = more toxic blue green algae • More drought = changes in water salinity = more marine algae What are HABs? • Toxic blue-green algae • Can be harmful to animals and humans • Seen in all 50 states • MT water bodies: Hebgen Lake, Canyon Ferry Lake, and others
- 5. Public Health Response to Weather-related Events: Harmful Algal Blooms • Public reporting of suspected HABs sightings • Guidance for water- body owners • Warnings for public water use (caution, danger, closure) Statewide Coordination • DEQ, DPHHS, Fish Wildlife and Park • Local Health Departments • Water-body owners
- 6. Public Health Data Montana Hospital Discharge Data System • Inpatient hospitalizations • Emergency Department visits Syndromic Surveillance System • Emergency Department chief complaints • Data transmitted to DPHHS every 24 hrs https://dphhs.mt.gov/Portals/85/publichealth/documents/Epidemiology/GuidelinesReportingP HI.pdf
- 7. Public Health Data: Montana Indicator Based Information System (MT-IBIS) http://ibis.mt.gov/ • Data Queries • Birth • Death • Cancer registry • Hospital discharge data • BRFSS • Community Snapshot Reports • Topic Pages
Editor's Notes
- Hello, I’m pleased to be here and invited to speak at this important seminar on climate and health today. I am going to talk to you all about how DPHHS has responded to climate change and specifically what our public health response has been to weather-related events that increasing in frequency with climate change. I will also tell you all about the public health data the Department collects that could be useful to researchers and communities looking to describe . Before I launch into these topics, I thought that it would be helpful to give everyone some background on DPHHS and public health capacity in Montana. DPHHS is the largest agency in state-government. We have over 3,000 employees, most of which work on the Human Services side of things at the agency. This would include Medicaid, Child Protective Services, SNAP, etc. On the public health side of things we have 200 employees that provide the core services of public health which include communicable disease investigations and prevention, chronic disease, maternal & child health, public health laboratory services, and epidemiology and disease surveillance. Most of the public health programs/services are paid through federal grants and cooperative agreements– approximately 70%. Most funding comes from the CDC. DPHHS gets these monies and then allocates many of these funds to local and tribal health departments throughout the state. When asked to give a speak at this seminar, my first reaction was “Gosh, DPHHS really doesn’t do much on climate change, unfortunately” And the reason for this reaction is that we don’t have a funded “climate and health” program with money or staff. This is partly because there is little federal funding or guidance in this area. However, whether we recognize it or not, public health workers do work on climate change. So with that I’m going to talk to you a little about our response to wildfires and Harmful Algal blooms.