APHL 2019 POSTER ABSTRACTS
by influencing future workforce members prior to beginning their
professional careers. Plans are still in development to track the long-
term outcomes of this course, but it is hopeful that graduates of this
program will enter the field of laboratory science better prepared
to use safe work practices and contribute to a culture of biosafety.
Finally, we propose this model as a strategy that could be utilized by
other state public health laboratories in collaboration with their local
academic institutions to enhance biosafety and biosecurity capacity
in clinical labs across the nation.
Presenter: Drew Fayram, State Hygienic Laboratory at the University
of Iowa, Coralville, IA, [email protected]
Communications
A. Wright, Association of Public Health Laboratories
In 2019, there are very few businesses, institutions and
organizations not taking advantage of the growing use of online
marketing and outreach and public health laboratories (PHLs)
should not be exempt. The use of social media is an effective
method of communication that can help PHLs increase the timely
dissemination and potential impact of health and safety information,
expand their reach to include a broader, more diverse audience and
empower people to make safer and healthier decisions.
This poster will present findings on industry standards for effectively
communicating your message via social media while building your
audience. The presentation will also highlight strategies and best
practices from a PHL Marketing and Communication subject matter
expert on how laboratories can use industry standards to develop a
social media presence and create successful content.
Presenter: Andrea Wright, Association of Public Health
Laboratories, Silver Spring, [email protected]
Environmental Health
A 20-Year Timeline of the Laboratory Response Network —
Chemical Threat (LRN-C) Program
J. Liebreich and J. Nassif, Association of Public Health Laboratories
In 1999 the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
collaboratively founded the Laboratory Response Network (LRN), an
achievement that will be celebrated during APHL’s annual meeting.
This poster will display visually the seminal accomplishments of the
LRN-C and through photos will highlight LRN-C responses in at least
four state public health laboratories (SPHLs).
The LRN is charged with the task of maintaining an integrated
network of laboratories that can respond to bioterrorism, emerging
infectious diseases, chemical terrorism and other public health
emergencies such as today’s opioid crisis. The LRN is a unique
asset in the nation’s preparedness for chemical terrorism, and
this poster will display images of how the LRN-C evolved. In the
40
LAB MATTERS Summer 2019
For 20 years CDC funding has supported 62 states, territories,
and metropolitan areas through the Public Health Emergency
Preparedness cooperative agreement, created to improve both
the local and the national public health infrastructures’ ability to
respond to acts of bioterrorism, broadly defined to include toxic
chemical exposure resulting from a terrorist act. Approximately
$40 million was initially available for distribution to PHLs for
preparedness, including four million dollars to fund four laboratories
that would provide surge capacity if a chemical terrorism incident
require more than the analytical resources of CDC’s National Center
for Environmental Health’s Division of Laboratory Sciences (CDC/
NCEH/DLS). In 2019, 53 laboratories within the 62 jurisdictions
are funded to make up the chemical component of the Laboratory
Response Network (LRN-C). In a timeline format, this poster will
display when and why LRN-C laboratories increased from four to 53.
Case studies will be described through photographs, likely including
responses to an Arsenic poisoning in Maine where church coffee
proved deadly; Abrine poisoning of a young Texan girl who ingested
rosary peas sold as a peace bracelet; a Massachusetts clam
boat fisherman who caught munitions and Sulfur Mustard gas; a
radiochemistry event at the Hanford Nuclear facility in Washington
state; and Alaska’s response to a chronic Arsenic issue.
The timeline will include the impact of APHL’s 2002 “Ready or Not”
report on the expansion of the LRN-C, as well as the release of
various methods to member laboratories. Viewing this poster will
provide the observer with a clearer understanding of growth of the
LRN-C to increase the nation’s preparedness for chemical exposure
events and public health laboratories’ ability to respond over the
past 20 years.
Presenter: Jennifer Liebreich, Association of Public Health
laboratories, Silver Spring, MD, [email protected]
Well Water Quality in Arkansas Child Care Facilities:
A Collaborative Success
M. Boston 1 , M. Sandoz 2 , K. Seely 1 ; 1 Arkansas Public Health
Laboratory, 2 Arkansas Department of Health
Introduction: In Arkansas, there are approximately 2,200 childcare
facilities and any facility that uses well water is required to submit
a water sample annually to the Public Health Laboratory to test for
total coliforms and E. coli. Unfortunately, all daycare facilities using
well water had not been identified by the Arkansas Department of
Health and Human Services, who regulate childcare facilities. Very
few facilities had ever submitted a sample. Additionally, there was
little to no information on well water quality in Arkansas, except for
total coliform and E. coli data.
Goals: The goals of this study included identifying day care facilities
that used well water, sample the water for microbiological and
inorganic testing, aid facilities on how to disinfect their wells,
and interpret the test results for the childcare facility owners. An
additional goal was to start a collaboration between multiple areas
of the Arkansas Department of Health (the Public Health Laboratory,
Environmental Epidemiology, and Environmental Health) as well as
other state agencies, such as Arkansas Department of Health and
Human Services.
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Marketing and Outreach Strategies Public Health
Laboratories Can Use to Build a Social Media Audience
and Develop Content
years since its creation, the LRN has played an instrumental role
in improving the public health infrastructure by helping boost
laboratory capacity with equipment, staff and methods.