National Environmental Public Health

Climate Change

Climate change is a major concern that has been occurring for more than a decade and has been effecting weather patterns all over the world. The increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall is a major concern, as well as natural disasters such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones that are happening more often.  The reason why this is such a demanding problem is because these changes directly correlate with human health and could put all of lives at risk if there is not changes made. According to the World Health Organization, about 1.2 million people worldwide die each year due to health problems caused by breathing bad air from air pollution. About 3.5 million people worldwide die because they do not get enough food to eat, and 2.2 million people get severe diarrhea because they do not have a clean water supply and proper sanitation. Human behavior is responsible for climate change and therefore we need to be the ones taking action to reverse our effects. 

The climate change section of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows people to have access to factual statics about the environment and the results of our actions. It provides links to other pages that inform readers how to track climate change dealing with heat waves. The website also has a communication tools page that provides materials and social media tools to keep people up to date on climate change and methods to share that information. The website also provides fact sheets and brochures that can be used for your own use or for distribution. Because the CDC gives readers access to materials, it allows people to share valuable information with more ease, and from a trusted publication.

American Association of Poison Control Centers

American Association of Poison Control Centers

            Poison can be defined as a substance that has the ability to cause illness or death when introduced our absorbed in some manner. The American Association of Poison Control Centers supports the nation’s 55 poison centers in their efforts to prevent and treat poison exposures. To reach the AAPCC, call 1-800-222-1222. The American Association of Poison Control Centers work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help reduce hospital visits and confidently provide medical advice. 

Age and gender play a large role in the distribution of poison occurrences. Children younger than three years of age were involved in 35.6% of exposure sand children younger than 6 years accounted for approximately half of all human exposures (47.7%). This leads us to believe that children are at a much higher risk of being exposed to poison. In terms of gender distribution, a male predominance was found among cases involving children younger than 13 years,but this gender distribution was reversed in teenagers and adults with females comprising the majority of reported exposures. The reasons for exposure vary greatly but the most human exposures were unintentional, totaling 79.4%. These categories range from general, therapeutic error, misuse, environmental, bite/sting, occupational, food poising, and unknown. The route of exposure identifies the physical manner in which the poison was consumed. Ingestion was the route of exposure in 83.7% of cases followed by dermal (7.0%),inhalation/nasal (6.1%), and ocular routes (4.3%). 

They work closely with America’s 55 poison centers to track down the source of poison, which includes household products, food and beverages, chemicals in the workplace and home, environmental toxins, drugs and medicine, and animal and insect bites and stings. Millions of calls are made annually regarding poison exposure or medical information. 

James B. Mowry PharmD, Daniel A. Spyker PhD, MD, Daniel E. Brooks MD, Naya McMillan DrPH, MS & Jay L. Schauben PharmD (2015) 2014 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 32nd Annual Report, Clinical Toxicology, 53:10, 962-1147, DOI: 10.3109/15563650.2015.1102927 

Heuristics

Heuristics

Heuristics can be described as the brain process that takes place to gain knowledge or an understanding or some other desired result, which then leads to a decision. This process involves intelligent reasoning rather than following a prearranged method; it is a quick and precise way to get from point a to point b.

An example of a specific heuristic is the common sense heuristic, which is applied to a problem based on an individual's observation of a situation. In most cases the difference between wrong and right seems to be clear and leads one to the most feasible answer. An example of this would be deciding whether or not to walk home at night alone or with a friend in a bad part of town. The obvious common sense heuristic would be to walk with a friend.

Another heuristic is that of the familiarity heuristic, which allows someone to approach an issue or problem based on the fact that the situation is one with which the individual is familiar, and so one should act the same way they acted in the same situation before. An example of this could be who decides to step up and help someone who is fallen ill. Someone who has had a background in the medical field is probably more likely and more knowledge to be capable of helping effectively. 

Heuristics can be accumulated from numerous life occurrences and upbringings, which then affect one’s everyday decision-making process. Humans often revert to this sort of mental shortcut without even realizing they are doing it. Because of this, humans are able to make decision extremely quickly instead of spending a lot of time on something that does not necessarily need a lot of thought. Heuristics is something that is apart of human nature and varies from person to person based on personal experience.