Phosphine Exposure Among Emergency Responders — Amarillo, Texas, January 2017

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
• Personal Author:
  Hall, Emily M. ; Patel, Ketki ; Victory, Kerton R. ; Calvert, Geoffrey M. ; Nogueira, Leticia M. ; Bojes, Heidi K.
• Description:
  What is already known on this topic? To prevent exposure to harmful chemical substances among emergency responders, use of respiratory and other personal protective equipment (PPE) is recommended during incident responses when release of an unknown hazardous substance is suspected. Past studies have found low prevalences of respiratory protection use during hazardous substance release incidents. What is added by this report? Forty (78.4%) of 51 emergency personnel responding to an acute phosphine exposure incident in Texas in January 2017 did not use respiratory protection, including 15 (37.5%) who received medical care after the incident and seven (17.5%) who reported new or worsening symptoms consistent with phosphine exposure within 24 hours of the incident. The majority had received standard emergency response training and knew of agency standard operating procedures for responding to incidents involving hazardous substances. What are the implications for public health practice? Although emergency responder risk of exposure during incidents involving unknown hazardous substances is well documented, methods for improving compliance with existing recommendations and regulations for respiratory protection use are not well understood. Additional evaluation is needed to identify targeted interventions that effectively increase appropriate PPE use among emergency responders during incidents involving such unknown hazards. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Emergency Responders Hazardous Substances Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Phosphines Public Health Respiratory Protective Devices Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management

  More +
• Keywords:
  Emergency responders; Employee exposure; Occupational exposure; Phosphine; Respirators; Personal protective equipment; PPE; Compliance; Safety monitoring; Public health; Behavior; Medical treatment; Health effects; Hazardous materials; Risk factors; Risk management; Work operations; Work practices; Intervention
• Source:
  MMWR 2018 Apr; 67(13):387-389
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6713a2
• ISSN:
  0149-2195
• Pubmed ID:
  29621206
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5889246
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EPRO - Emergency Preparedness and Response Office ; WTCHP - World Trade Center Health Program
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051269
• Contact Point Address:
  Emily M. Hall, MPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
• Email:
  emily.hall@dshs.texas.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Phosphine (PH3) (CAS RN 7803-51-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Texas State Department of Health Services, Austin
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8614ea5933bcdffd797fdb4d0d595b8ac80ef33a66533dfd3ccecf558921260e000d5a768a584c76d2263f93ca264e4daa99ac5b1c7fab711ef875d586b674bb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/55259/cdc_55259_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 79.84 KB ]