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Mass Arsenic Poisoning and the Public Health Response in Maine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2013

Dora A. Mills ,
Anthony J. Tomassoni ,
Lindsay A. Tallon ,
Kristy A. Kade  and
Elena S. Savoia
Dora A. Mills
Affiliation:
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Anthony J. Tomassoni
Affiliation:
Yale-New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response
Lindsay A. Tallon*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Emergency Preparedness Bureau
Kristy A. Kade
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Preparedness
Elena S. Savoia
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Preparedness
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Lindsay A. Tallon, MSPH, MA, Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness Bureau, 250 Washington St, Boston, MA 02108 (e-mail Lindsay.Tallon@state .ma.us).
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Abstract

Created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Maine's Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness within the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention undertook a major reorganization of epidemiology and laboratory services and began developing relationships with key partners and stakeholders, and a knowledgeable and skilled public health emergency preparedness workforce. In 2003, these newly implemented initiatives were tested extensively during a mass arsenic poisoning at the Gustav Adolph Lutheran Church in the rural northern community of New Sweden, Maine. This episode serves as a prominent marker of how increased preparedness capabilities, as demonstrated by the rapid identification and administration of antidotes and effective collaborations between key partners, can contribute to the management of broader public health emergencies in rural areas. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:319-326)

Keywords

arsenic poisoningpreparedness capacitypublic health emergencypublic health preparednessrural preparedness
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , June 2013 , pp. 319 - 326
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2013 

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