Health department/agency, state/local

Aside from private consultants, local, state, or federal government agencies may be able to provide expert assistance or direction in solving lAQ problems. It is particularly important to contact a local or state health department if one suspects that there is a serious building-related illness potentially linked to biological contamination in a building. 

More information about arsine can be obtained from your regional poison control center, your state, county, or local health department the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) your doctor or a clinic in your area that specializes in occupational and environmental health. If the exposure happened at work, you may wish to contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 

Aerial photographs in stereoscopic pairs for selected years. Records from local and state health department and conservation agencies... 

Several Internet sites may be helpful for clinicians who cannot find local and state public health contact information. The CDC Web site has a link to state health departments at http //www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec80226c7a (last accessed 3-18-06). Alternatively, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has a directory of state public health agencies at http //www.statepublichealth.org/ index.php (last accessed 3-18-06), and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has a directory of local health departments at http //lhadirectory.naccho.org/phdir/(last accessed 3-18-06). 

In the last decade, advances in information technology have greatly accelerated the speed at which business and commercial transactions and information exchange occurs. However, these advances have, in large part, not reached local, and in some cases, state health agencies. The capacity of state and local health departments to communicate electronically with each other is severely limited. Fewer than 50 percent of local health departments have any capacity for Internet connectivity (electronic mail) (National Association of County and City Health Officials, 1997). 

Some parents have found that when state authorities are difficult to deal with, the local health department may be the source of needed support. In other cases, if the local agency is unable to help, parents may find the necessary expertise and assistance from the state lead program. In one case, when a family was having a hard time getting local authorities to come to their aid, a journalist intervened and advocated for them, and got a response at the state level. Some parents have even found individuals at federal agencies, such as the GDC, or the lead hot line run by the National Safety Council to be very helpful. 

So in 2011, the Cairns public health unit initiated a project to develop an integrated systematic approach to assessing environmental health issues and priorities after a disaster. Cairns worked with other northern Queensland local governments, indigenous and non-indigenous community agencies, the Red Cross, and the State Health Department [47]. 

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