OEHA E-Blast: AEC Draft Agenda, webinars, trainings and more!
There's a lot going on with Environmental Health in Oregon! Get the latest OEHA AEC Draft Agenda, read about National Food Safety Education Month, register for Private Well webinars and more in this edition of the OEHA E-Blast. Please pass these helpful resources along to others in your agency and community who may benefit from this important public health information!
Oregon Environmental Health News and Resources:
OEHA's annual education conference is coming up Tuesday-Thursday, October 24-26, 2023 at the Agate Beach Inn in Newport, Oregon. The OEHA AEC draft agenda is now available on the OEHA website and has two tracks packed with presentations covering both general Environmental Health and Onsite Wastewater. An exciting lineup of presenters includes Keynote Speaker Dr. David Dyjack, President of NEHA, June Bancroft, senior epidemiologist from OHA’s Acute and Communicable Disease Prevention Program, Katey Kennedy from the FDA, Scott Hammerschmidt from Orenco, Dan Bush, EN Tech, Verbal Judo training from Detective Jason Spano from Lincoln County, and many more. Spots are limited and are filling up fast, so register today! We still have openings for additional Conference Sponsors and are seeking donations for our Silent Auction. Learn more here: 2023 AEC | OEHA (oregoneha.org)
OEHA's Trainee Study Group is going strong! We started our second Trainee Study Group session on July 7th and are meeting virtually every Friday from 9-10am on Zoom until mid-December. This session, we are utilizing the Environmental Public Health Online Courses- EPHOC from Tulane. If you know of any REHS Trainees in your area, please point them our way to connect! REHS Trainee Resources | OEHA (oregoneha.org) The OEHA Trainee Study Group is available at no cost to all Oregon REHS Trainees who are current OEHA Members.
September is National Food Safety Education Month! Each September for 25 years, in recognition of National Food Safety Education Month, health educators and consumers have focused on the most effective ways to avoid foodborne illness, often called food poisoning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million persons — or 1 of every 6 people get foodborne infections each year. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from their foodborne illness. This year FDA wants to bring special attention to people who are at higher risk and help them, their family members, and caregivers by highlighting food safety information to avoid foodborne illness. High-risk people include children under 5 (as their immune systems are not fully developed) and those with immune systems weakened by pregnancy, aging, certain chronic diseases or autoimmune disorders, and immunosuppressive treatments. Use the social media messages from FDA to show your support for National Food Safety Education Month (NFSEM) and to encourage your community to keep food safe: Food Safety Education Month | FDA Here are some FDA Food Safety Resources for People at Higher Risk:
Clean Hands Are Within Reach! October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
Upcoming Webinars:
Join the NEHA Preparedness Committee for upcoming webinar: Successes and Challenges of Coordinating Across Sectors to Enhance Preparedness and Response to Environmental Health Disasters on September 25. Learn from federal, state, and local emergency response professionals about their strategies for smooth coordination across sectors during environmental health disasters. Register: https://www.neha.org/sept-preparedness-webinar
Recognizing and Preparing for Alpha-gal Syndrome AKA "Red Meat Allergy" This CDC report highlights areas within states with suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), commonly known as red meat allergy. AGS is an emerging condition that develops after a tick bite. The agency reports that between 2010 and 2022, there were more than 110,000 suspected cases of AGS identified. Even as suspected AGS cases increase yearly, a survey found that nearly half (42%) of U.S. healthcare professionals (HCPs) had never heard of AGS. Among those HCPs who had, less than one third (29%) knew how to diagnose the condition. The CDC has developed a free CME/CE training so learners are better able to self-assess gaps in their knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of patients with AGS. Access the training here.
Join The Global Handwashing Partnership on Tuesday, September 12, for our annual Global Handwashing Day Briefing Call! During this call, they will go over this year’s theme and calls to action and share details around this year’s resources. This call is a great way for you to share your Global Handwashing Day celebrations, get inspired by others, and network with other celebrants in your region. Register here.
What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know about Homes with Well Water Offered by The Private Well Class. September 6, 2023, 1pm Central. Register here: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know about Homes with Well Water (privatewellclass.org)
Conducting Assessments Using the Expanded Onsite/Decentralized Assessment Tool Offered by The Private Well Class. September 21, 2023, 1pm Central Register here: Is My Water Safe to Drink? - Common Questions about Private Wells (privatewellclass.org)
Get to Know the Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative Do you know when and where the Retail Program Standards Self-Assessment and Verification Audit Workshops are happening this year? Find retail food safety news and events on the Collaborative's website, and subscribe to their mailing list to get notifications of upcoming events straight to your inbox. Visit retailfoodsafetycollaborative.org today.
Impacts of Climate Change on Private Wells with a Focus on Groundwater Depletion, Microbiological Contamination, and Saltwater Intrusion Hosted by NEHA Virtual Workshop | September 12, 2023, 12:30 - 3:30 pm ET Climate change impacts groundwater quantity and quality through increased variability in precipitation and frequency of extreme weather events.
Addressing the Public Health Challenges of Edible Cannabis Products Hosted by NEHA Webinar | September 14, 2023, 2 pm ET. While cannabis remains an illegal Schedule I substance under federal law, most states have legalized cannabis for medical use and a rapidly growing number have legalized it.
Successes and Challenges of Coordinating Across Sectors to Enhance Preparedness and Response to Environmental Health Disasters Hosted by NEHA Webinar | September 25, 2023, 12 pm ET This webinar will provide the environmental public health workforce with best practices and strategies for overcoming the challenges of coordinating across sectors to enhance preparedness.
Celebrating World EH Day: Exploring Environmental Health Career Pathways Hosted by NEHA Webinar | September 26, 2023, 2 pm ET Join us on World Environmental Health Day for a celebration and exploration of environmental health career pathways.
NEHA-FDA RFFM Grant Program Q&A Webinar for CY2024 Applications Hosted by NEHA Webinar | September 26, 2023 For the CY 2024 we are offering two 60-minute Q&A sessions to answer your questions about the NEHA-FDA RFFM Grant Program Year 3 application cycle. Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 12 pm ET
Spark! Webinar Series Spark! is an ongoing series of members-only skill-building webinars, provided in short half hour segments to fit into your busy schedule. Each webinar provides .5 CEs toward maintaining your NEHA credential.
Environmental Health Grand Rounds These virtual seminars were specifically chosen for undergraduate and graduate students studying environmental sciences and environmental public health. The series highlights the workforce behind environmental health.
2024 InFORM The Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management (InFORM) Conference brings together the network of public health officials involved with foodborne and enteric disease outbreak response.
Scholarships and Opportunities:
Applications due September 8, 2023 | RFA: Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Enhancing LHD Forecasting and Analytics Capabilities NACCHO, with support from the CDC Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, has released a new RFA for funding to strengthen local health departments' capacity to integrate forecasting and analytical tools into infectious disease outbreak planning and response at the local level. Applications are due September 8, 2023, 11:59 PM ET.
NEHA has opened a Call for Abstracts for the 2024 NEHA Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition! They invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to provide unique insights and share your experience, expertise, knowledge, and research by submitting an abstract for the 2024 NEHA AEC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15-18, 2024.
Call for Abstracts: 2024 NACCHO Preparedness Summit The Preparedness Summit, the country’s first and longest running national conference on public health preparedness, is now accepting abstracts. The theme for our next Preparedness Summit, Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Management: Aligning to Address Cascading Challenges, provides an opportunity for sectors to come together, align missions, and discover better ways to work as true partners to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Submit an abstract by September 15.
The Global Handwashing Partnership is hosting a creative contest that aims to encourage youth (18 years and under) to express their ideas and creativity through a short music video promoting clean hands. The submission deadline has been extended to Wednesday, September 20. Contest guidelines are available here.
2024 Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management (InFORM) Conference: Abstract Submissions Opened August 1 The conference, slated to be held January 22-24, 2024 in Washington, DC, brings together the network of public health officials involved with foodborne and enteric disease outbreak response. This includes current federal, state, and local public health and environmental health specialists, epidemiologists, health communicators, and laboratory scientists. This year’s theme is “The State of Enterics: Capitalizing on Opportunities."
NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model (RFFM) Grant Program Year 3 Applications: Important Dates NEHA-FDA RFFM Grant Program provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial retail food regulatory agencies as they advance conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards.
Employment Opportunities
Looking for a job? Have a vacancy in your business or department? Check out the OEHA Job Opportunities page at Job Opportunities | OEHA (oregoneha.org) or send us a message for a free job posting!
Who said it?
"We never know the worth of water until the well is dry."
Who said it from the previous E-Blast?
“Sometimes the manufacturers of food don’t think of it as food. It becomes a commodity.”
- Bill Marler, an American personal injury lawyer and food safety advocate, as quoted in the documentary "Poisoned"
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