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Health risks from infrastructure failures are not well understood,
despite the potential widespread introduction of chemical,
microbial, and physical contaminants, as well as service
disruptions. Public health effects due to distribution
infrastructure failures are the concern and responsibility of the
local water utility, the health department, community medical care
providers, and in special circumstances, emergency first response
agencies. While the water utility is responsible for safe water,
including the operation and maintenance of distribution
infrastructure, other agencies including public health regulators,
medical practitioners, and first responders (e.g., police, fire,
others) also play a pivotal and active role when dealing with the
impacts of infrastructure failures on the community. All agencies
involved with some aspect of public health protection from
infrastructure failures acknowledged that the true extent of health
effects, while not yet well known or characterized, required a
collaborative, interagency approach. The study identified methods
to develop future collaborative efforts, which included improved
understanding of the relationships and outcomes between
infrastructure failure events and measured health outcomes, as well
as the need to develop improved tools for the detection and
monitoring of these events and community effects. This includes the
need to develop/refine collaboration for interagency surveillance,
response, and mitigation efforts for infrastructure failures. The
study identified ways to improve interagency communication as well
as potential opportunities for cross-training to improve
understanding between stakeholders and to develop better
collaborative relationships and programs.
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