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Reaching Out
Preparing For
Cross Border Public Health Emergencies Even More
Important
With 2010
Winter Olympics On The Horizon
When I first heard that the
Winter Olympics were coming to British Columbia in 2010,
it seemed like a long time in the future. That’s not the
case anymore. The games are scheduled for March of 2010,
which is less than two years from now. As you can
imagine, like any huge event, there’s a lot of work to
be done.
Even though the games are
north of our border, everyone expects they’ll have a big
impact on our state. Many of those who travel from
across the country and around the world for the games
will come through Washington airports, drive on
Washington highways, stay in Washington hotels and
motels, and spend time here before and after reaching
Canada. Hundreds of thousands of visitors will pass
through the northwest; public health agencies and health
care facilities must be ready.
Planning for the Olympics
was one of the important topics discussed during the 5th
Annual Cross-Border Conference in May. Nearly 200 public
health and emergency preparedness partners convened in
Bellingham. Participants came from several states and
provinces, including Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta,
Yukon Territory, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and
Washington — as well as federal partners from both sides
of the border.
We have taken the lead on
this work for our region. I’m pleased to say we’ve made
tremendous progress improving public health cooperation
between border states and our Canadian counterparts.
Five years ago during our first meeting, most of us were
shaking hands and learning each others’ names for the
first time. We now have plans in place to share
information and jointly respond to outbreaks and other
public health issues.
Bugs don’t respect borders;
that’s one of the reasons this work is so important. We
now have 24-hour contacts on each side of the border, so
I know who to call in British Columbia any time
something happens, day or night. We have some legal
agreements in place, and are working on others regarding
sharing health information and transporting patients
across the border. The last thing you want to do during
an outbreak is delay taking action until legal issues
can be resolved.
During the meeting we tested
our plans with a tabletop exercise. The scenario was a
foodborne outbreak during the Winter Olympics. It
provided an opportunity to talk an incident through and
think about the details that can get missed in broader
planning.
I feel good about what we
have accomplished; yet the more you do, the more you
find needs to be done. We’re considering a full-scale
cross border public health exercise next year.
New Quit Line
Services To Help Pregnant Women Quit Smoking
Just in time for Mother’s
Day, we added some new services to our free Tobacco Quit
Line to give pregnant women more help when they’re ready
to quit using tobacco.
The new tools include
written quit materials and extra follow-up calls to help
pregnant women increase their chances of quitting and
remaining tobacco-free after the baby is born. Also, our
quit coaches have received additional training to better
understand the challenges pregnant women face when
trying to quit smoking.
In Washington, more than
8,700 babies are born each year to women who smoke
during their pregnancy. Our state’s maternal smoking
rate has remained stagnant over the last several years,
with about 12 percent of pregnant women reporting
smoking during the last three months of their pregnancy.
Babies with moms who smoke
are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
and have health problems like ear infections and
pneumonia. These new resources will make a real
difference in the health of pregnant women and their
babies.
The expanded quit line
services are part of our effort to reach out to pregnant
women who smoke. Last year, we launched the “Quit for
You Quit for Two” campaign to raise awareness of the
health dangers associated with smoking while pregnant
and the resources available to help women quit.
The quit line
(1-800-QUIT-NOW, and in Spanish, 1-877-2NO-FUME)
provides free help to all pregnant women who smoke — no
insurance required. Quit coaches help callers develop a
quit plan and a strategy to avoid secondhand smoke
before and after the baby is born. The quit line can
supply free nicotine replacement medications when
appropriate and approved by the woman’s physician.
I need your help with this
issue. If you know a pregnant woman who smokes, tell her
about these new Quit Line services. A call to the Quit
Line could put her and her baby on the road to better
health.
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