Training Video to Help Health Care Providers Prevent Potential Drinking Water Health Risks

(11/04/04) E.P.A. is releasing an educational training video intended to help health care providers recognize, report and prevent waterborne illness from drinking water sources. "Tap into Prevention: Drinking Water Information for Health Care Providers," was developed in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. This video explains potential health risks from exposure to microbial and chemical contaminants in drinking water and demonstrates positive actions health care providers can take in their communities. Continuing education credit is accessible to those health care providers who watch the video and then complete an online test and evaluation. The video is among a number of EPA's activities to educate health care providers about environmental issues. Those include backing a multi-year nursing education program, "Protecting Children from Environmental Threats," developed by the American Nurses Association and the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

The video provides case studies of the1993 cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Milwaukee, a city-wide testing plan for lead in drinking water in Philadelphia's schools and the efforts of public health nurses in rural Minnesota who educate expectant parents about the importance of testing well water for nitrates and bacteria. E.P.A. will present excerpts of the video during upcoming presentations at the Groundwater Foundation's Yearly Conference in Washington, D.C., on Nov. five and at the American Public Health Association's Public Health and the Environment Conference in Washington, D.C., on Nov. eight and 9. To order the video in a DVD or VHS format and to view supplemental materials, which include additional resources about drinking water for health care providers, visit: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/healthcare .

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