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Open Access
DIRECT FROM CDC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
New Website, Same Trusted Environmental Health Resources
Maggie Byrne
Restaurant Food Safety More than 70% of environmental health staff work in food safety and protection (Gerding et al., 2019). With the launch of the new cdc.gov website, we now have a dedicated site for restaurant food safety resources. The site includes several types of information for health department sta and restaurant managers: • Resources for restaurants, including infor- mation health department sta can share with food establishments on how to talk with sick workers, the benefits of kitchen manager certification, and more. • A restaurant food safety training hub with our popular outbreak training, Environ- mental Assessment Training Series (EATS). EATS is an interactive program that walks outbreak investigators through the process of conducting environmental assessments during investigations, including opportu- nities for practicing interviewing restau- rant sta and more. The training hub also has links to a short, animated training on identifying underlying causes of outbreaks. • Resources to improve outbreak investiga- tions, including our National Environmen- tal Assessment Reporting System (NEARS). NEARS helps health departments improve reporting of root causes of foodborne dis- ease outbreaks. Other resources include findings from NEARS and guides on iden- tifying and reporting outbreak root causes. • Key research findings on food safety poli- cies and practices in restaurants, banquet facilities, schools, and other institutions. Safe Water Environmental health practitioners address a range of water issues. The updated website
Editor’s Note: The National Environmental Health Association strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature this column on environmental health services from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal . In these columns, authors from CDC’s Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch, as well as guest authors, will share tools, resources, and guidance for environmental health practitioners. The conclusions in this column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of CDC. Maggie Byrne is a communicator in the Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch at CDC.
I n May 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a new streamlined cdc.gov website. The new website aims to reduce redundancy and complexity, and present information in a more user-friendly way. As a part of the re- vamp, environmental health resources and information are now shared on key topic- based sites. Explore our trusted environmen- tal health resources at www.cdc.gov/environ mental-health-services/php/about/resources. html (Figure 1). Environmental Health Services and Practice We have several programs to promote and support environmental health programs and professionals across the country. • National Environmental Public Health Internship Program (NEPHIP): This pro- gram is oered through a partnership with
the National Environmental Health Asso- ciation. It links environmental health under- graduate and graduate students with health departments. The departments gain high- quality assistance at no cost to their program, and students gain hands-on experience. • Environmental Health and the 10 Essential Services: Our web content outlines how environmental health activities support each service and public health accredita- tion, along with example activities. • Training: We oer free training on several environmental health topics, including pool inspection, emergency response, outbreak investigation, vector control, and more. • Environmental Health Capacity (EHC) Program: This program funds environmen- tal health projects to use environmental health data, which strengthens programs and services and builds capacity to address environmental health hazards.
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