users to learn about and practice environ- mental assessment skills, including: » Identifying outbreak contributing fac- tors and root causes » Identifying interventions for stopping and preventing outbreaks • Guidance on Root Cause Identification: CDC has developed two resources designed to help investigators identify root causes: 1. A one-page flyer that provides an over- view of root causes » Interviewing food workers » Environmental sampling 2. A more comprehensive document— Field Guide to Identifying Root Caus e s — that provides guidance on determining the root cause of an outbreak in specific scenarios • Contributing Factors Video: This 9-min training video provides an overview of outbreak contributing factors and root causes and the dierences between routine inspections and outbreak investigations in restaurants (Figure 2). • Food Safety Centers of Excellence: The Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence provides outbreak investigation resources. Several of these resources, including short just-in-time trainings, are focused on out- break environmental assessments. National Environmental Assessment Reporting System As mentioned, CDC recognizes the impor- tance of outbreak environmental assessment data to stop ongoing outbreaks. CDC also recognizes the importance of these data to improve food safety. Aggregated data on out- break contributing factors and root causes can inform national food safety policies, practices, and training to ultimately reduce outbreaks. CDC developed the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) to capture data on environmental assessments of foodborne outbreaks from health departments. Currently, more than 60 state, local, and territorial environmental health programs in health departments are registered to report their assessment data to NEARS. CDC encourages all environmental health pro- grams that investigate foodborne outbreaks to do the same. Benefits of NEARS participa- tion include access to:
FIGURE 1
Screenshot of a Scene From the Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS)
EATS teaches key concepts, skills, and steps for environmental assessments of restaurants implicated in an outbreak.
FIGURE 2
Screenshot of the From Inspector to Investigator Training Video
This short training video covers the three types of contributing factors and how to identify them in an outbreak investigation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed resources to support investigators in conducting environmen- tal assessments. These resources are free, online, and readily accessible. Thus, inves- tigators can improve their knowledge and skills at their convenience, such as when they have downtime at work or just before an outbreak investigation.
These resources include: • Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS): This comprehensive (approximately 8 hr) training can earn users continuing education credits and teaches outbreak environmental assessment com- petencies (Figure 1). EATS uses interactive techniques and outbreak scenarios to allow
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September 2024 • Journal of Environmental Health
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