Key Objectives:
- Provide information and public health resources related to preparedness and response tools for water-related emergencies
- Highlight learning lessons from past water-related emergencies
- Discuss priorities and needs for additional tools and resources
Brief Summary:
This roundtable will discuss existing and needed resources and tools to prepare for drinking water-related emergencies, which can be caused by water outages, emerging pathogens, chemicals, toxins, natural disasters, or aging infrastructure. We will explore ways to integrate this planning within the overall public health emergency response framework.
Complex environmental health emergencies and outbreaks associated with drinking water trigger public health responses because of their potential for causing community-wide illness and disruption. Often these events are not preceded by sufficient planning, training, or exercises compromising the rapidity and efficiency of response by local and state health departments. Providing coordinated risk messaging to the public is particularly important to assuring transparency in preventive measures, actions and recommendations by public health authorities. Exercises and tools have been developed or planned based on relevant public health experience in responding to these emergencies. These tools are designed to assist state and local health departments prepare for and respond to water-related emergencies which can be caused by water outages, emerging pathogens, chemicals, toxins, natural disasters, or aging infrastructure.
CDC has developed tabletop exercises (TTX) and tools for health departments, public health preparedness staff, and water utilities. The TTX addresses water outage and/or contamination; tools focus on drinking water advisory communication and for healthcare facility preparation for water emergences. Additionally, CDC is coordinating the development of a waterborne disease outbreak response toolkit. CDC is working to identify best practices for water preparedness and response and are encouraging the continued development and integration of these practices into state and local public health preparedness plans. Participants from state health departments who have recently experience water-related emergencies will discuss response coordination, critical decision-making, and the integration of resources necessary to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the loss/contamination of a city’s drinking water supply. Participants will discuss existing tools for water preparedness and response, focusing on what can be done to build additional tools or increase the use of existing tools, with particular emphasis on development of effective risk communication. This will assist with the process of developing accessible, timely tools that can be used to protect the health of community members in the event of a drinking water-related emergency or disease outbreak.
