U.S. Ebola Response: Sharing State Experiences and Discussion of Possible Strategies for Enhancing the Engagement of Occupational Health in Future Public Health Emergencies

Key Objectives:
1) Encourage state occupational health representatives to share their experiences participating in the U.S Ebola response; 2) Identify factors related to successful engagement of occupational health and barriers to participation; 3) Elicit recommendations for strategies to enhance the engagement of occupational health in future public health emergencies.

Brief Summary:
The 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa has prompted extensive activities in the U.S. to prepare for the arrival of individuals who may have been exposed to EVD and/or EVD patients in need of treatment. This widespread effort at the local, state, and federal level aims to ensure protection of the U.S. public from this devastating disease. Emergence of EVD in the U.S., even if limited to a small number of patients, poses a serious potential occupational health risk to involved healthcare workers. Thus, the response demonstrated a need for occupational health expertise for the rapid development of guidance on worker protection, surveillance of healthcare workers, and for close interaction between public health agencies, occupational health authorities (OSHA programs), and occupational health stakeholders including employers, workers, and the organizations that represent them. Yet, some state health department-based occupational health programs found they were not as engaged in the work of the public health emergency response teams addressing EVD as would have been ideal, and that engagement of other important entities such as OSHA programs and healthcare worker unions did not happen quickly enough or, in some cases, at all. This roundtable discussion seeks to explore the various experiences of state occupational health program personnel, including their level of engagement in state EVD planning and response activities. We will identify factors that led to the successful, active engagement of occupational health, and consider how this participation contributed to the overall effort. The discussion will also identify barriers to optimal engagement of occupational health, and any lessons learned that point to strategies for ensuring that occupational health is better integrated in future public health emergency responses.