Mass Arsenic Poisoning and the Public Health Response in Maine

• Published in: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 319 - 326
• Main Authors: Mills, Dora A., Tomassoni, Anthony J., Tallon, Lindsay A., Kade, Kristy A., Savoia, Elena S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.06.2013; Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Subjects: Arsenic; Arsenic Poisoning - drug therapy; Arsenic Poisoning - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Census of Population; Collaboration; Concepts in Disaster Medicine; Disaster Medicine - organization & administration; Disaster Planning; Disease control; Drinking water; Emergency preparedness; Epidemiology; General aspects; Homicide; Humans; Infrastructure; Maine - epidemiology; Mass Casualty Incidents; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Planification. Prevention (methods). Intervention. Evaluation; Poisoning; Poisons; Public health; Public Health Practice; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Rural areas; Rural Population; Testing laboratories; United States; North America; Maine; America; New York; Bangladesh; Sweden; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; England; preparedness capacity; rural preparedness; public health emergency; arsenic poisoning; public health preparedness; Rural environment; Arsenic; Teaching; Response; Capacity; Preparation; Dragging; Poisoning; Emergency; Public health
• ISSN: 1935-7893; 1938-744X
• DOI: 10.1001/dmp.2011.1

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)