Editor’s observe: April 4-10 is Nationwide Public Well being Week. This text highlights some public well being staff in Chautauqua County.
Once you get sick, chances are you’ll go to the physician’s workplace for medicine and therapy to get higher. Once you’re injured, chances are you’ll go to the hospital or pressing care to have your wound addressed. However what about those that work behind the scenes, serving to maintaining a neighborhood wholesome and protected? That’s the place public well being is available in.
“We’re not simply anxious about one one that walks via the door, or one one that lives in a single particular neighborhood. We have now to consider all people in all places and the way can we positively influence the well being and wellness of all of these folks, though we all know it’s going to take completely different measures in other places,” stated Christine Schuyler, public well being director and commissioner of Social Providers.
Janelle Hartloff is a registered nurse who beforehand labored for Brooks Hospital however switched 14 years in the past to turn into a public nurse. “I actually loved working with the neighborhood, working fingers on with residents with individuals who wanted our assist,” she stated.
Cathy Burgess beforehand labored for UPMC and right now is the director of neighborhood well being nursing. She began with the county within the household planning clinic in Dunkirk. “I simply actually had an curiosity in ladies’s well being on the time,” she stated.
Shelly Wells, a nurse and public well being planner, stated she enjoys serving to the neighborhood at giant. “I believe the distinction in being a nurse and treating folks and public well being is that you just’re actually taking a look at preventive measures. You’re wanting on the issues that stop folks from getting ailing as an alternative of treating them after they’re ailing,” she stated.
Breeanne Agett, an epidemiologist with the county, spends a lot of her time amassing and analyzing information. “The purpose is to have a look at all the information to see what are the well being issues in the neighborhood after which work on making an attempt to establish what are the causes of those issues,” she stated.
In Chautauqua County, research present the persistent illnesses are usually attributable to poor vitamin, lack of bodily actions and smoking. “We work with a number of organizations all through the neighborhood to attempt to establish what these issues are particularly, after which work collectively collaboratively to find out how we’re going to handle them,” Agett stated.
Whereas numerous the final two years public well being staff have targeted on COVID-19, they’ve had quite a lot of well being points earlier than this pandemic. A few of these embrace measles outbreaks, pertussis (whooping cough), H1N1 (swine flu), rabies, and extra. In keeping with Schuyler, there are greater than 70 reportable human illnesses in New York state that they look ahead to. “The native well being division’s job has all the time been to research any of these illnesses which can be reported to us and to take measures to forestall the unfold of that illness,” she stated.
Public well being goes past nursing as nicely. Natalie Whiteman, is the county’s emergency preparedness coordinator, She has been with the county’s Public Well being Division for greater than 20 years, beginning with inspecting water therapy crops and serving to with numerous water emergencies. Throughout her time with the county, she additionally helped examine properties for lead and lead-based paint, and noticed issues all through the county. “We noticed plenty of youngsters in substandard housing that had been affected (by lead), however we additionally noticed many situations the place it was youngsters of the center class and even higher center class that assumed ‘we’re shopping for this very nice home in a very swanky neighborhood, due to this fact it’s received to be protected.’ But when it was constructed within the ’50s or ’60s, there’s a very good likelihood it wasn’t protected,” she stated.
One other challenge that issues Whiteman is the county’s ageing infrastructure. “We’ve received wastewater therapy crops on the market which have actually outlived their lifespan. There’s pipes within the floor which can be well beyond their lifespan that must be addressed earlier than we’ve got an enormous public well being concern attributable to failing water system or a failing wastewater system,” she stated.
The general public well being division additionally offers with meals points, corresponding to e-coli outbreaks and potential for rabies.
Whiteman notes the county handles a whole bunch of calls yearly for bites from canines, cats and bats. “We hint down the animal, we hint down the proprietor and do prevention if essential,” she stated.
With so many points, Schuyler calls public well being “Switzerland” of medical care. “We’re doing coverage, programs change and giving steerage to others on the market in the neighborhood,” she stated.