When emergencies or disasters strike, environmental health specialists are prepared to respond and protect public health.

Alex Hawley and Lynnea Rappold, environmental health specialists with El Paso County Public Health, recently used their skills and training to educate other environmental health professionals about the key roles they may be called upon to provide in disaster response situations. The pair presented a course at the Colorado Environmental Health Association’s Annual Educational Conference to educate their peers about their roles in emergency preparedness, surveillance, recovery, and mitigation.

“Attendees of the session were surprised by the diversity of tasks required of environmental health professionals, and they were better able to appreciate the vital role they play during disaster events. Emergency response training and knowledge is especially important for Environmental Health Specialists who have a key role in protecting the public health during a widespread emergency or disaster, such as a wild-land fire, flooding, or tornado,” Hawley said.

The conference was held September 28 through September 30 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Other El Paso County Environmental Health Specialists who attended were Tara Olson, Ronda Larson, Tiffany Schifferns, Chuck Cousino, and Sarah Robbin. In addition to the emergency preparedness session, this year’s conference covered a wide variety of other topics related to environmental health, including air quality, food safety, wastewater disposal, and environmental sustainability. 

The annual conference provides high quality educational opportunities, while fostering a network to help develop, connect and build collaborative relationships among the diverse professionals in the field of environmental health.

“Since the conference included environmental health professionals from throughout the State of Colorado, it provided excellent opportunities for the El Paso County attendees to gain new insights on improving public health, and allowed them to exchange ideas with other health departments,” Hawley said.