US EPA

1017315 

Journal Article 

Mass Arsenic Poisoning and the Public Health Response in Maine 

Mills, DA; Tomassoni, AJ; Tallon, LA; Kade, KA; Savoia, ES 

2013 

0 

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
ISSN: 1935-7893
EISSN: 1938-744X 

7 

3 

319-326 

English 

21270320 

10.1001/dmp.2011.1 

WOS:000323163300014 

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. 

arsenic poisoning; preparedness capacity; public health emergency; public health preparedness; rural preparedness