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Recreational Water Program Environmental Health

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Local boards have an enormous challenge when addressing their community’s recreational water programs. Recreational water programs can include swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, and bathing beaches. These venues offer many dangers including the risk of acquiring a disease, injury, or even death. The diversity of community prevention programs, coupled with a constantly changing field, creates unique challenges for boards of health. NALBOH is available to assist boards in utilizing their core programmatic functions to ensure that recreational water venues are safe for public use.

 

In The News

 

NEW! Pennsylvania workers keep public pools open.

 

Northeast Colorado Board of Health approves new pool program.

 

New study shows that hot tub injuries are on the rise; they have risen by 160 percent between 1990 and 2007.

 

The September 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association details an outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis associated with a splash park in Idaho.

 

 

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Did You Know...

 

NEW! CDC pool inspection data shows room for improvement.
A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that About 1 out of 8 public pool inspections conducted in 13 states in 2008 resulted in pools being closed immediately due to serious code violations.  

 

Tools for Pools

May 24-30, 2010 was designated as Recreational Water Illness (RWI) Prevention Week. The themes were pool inspection and the Triple A's of Healthy Swimming (Awareness, Action, and Advocacy). The CDC prepared the following materials for RWI Prevention Week:

RWI Prevention Week Cover Letter

RWI Toolkit with Outreach Suggestions and Healthy Swimming URLs

RWI Sample Press Release

 

NIOSH Publication
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has released a publication on reducing illnesses at indoor waterparks. Download the publication.  

 

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The Salt Lake Valley Health Department behind the scenes video.

This video follows a pool inspector as they demonstrate aspects of their job.

 

Recreation Management magazine features new article on pool safety.
Cracking the Code to Safety: Prevent Pool Shutdowns and Keep Patrons Safe provides safety tips and action steps for pool owners and operators. This advice could be shared with pool operators in your community. Access the article.

 

Healthy Swimming Videos
The CDC has created new informational videos about healthy swimming as part of their Health Matters series.  They encourage public health professionals to use these videos to educate the community about Recreational Water Illnesses, which can be embedded on websites. 

Click to view & learn more information about the videos.

 

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For more information on Recreational Water Programs, contact Carrie Hribar.

 

 

 

Page updated 6/15/2010.


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