The Pump Handle is a place for people interested in public health and the environment to discuss the issues that interest us, particularly when they’re not getting the treatment we think they deserve in the mainstream media.
The story of the pump handle is familiar to any first-semester public health student: During the London cholera epidemic of 1854, John Snow examined maps of cholera cases and traced the disease to water from a local pump. At the time, the prevailing theory held that cholera spread through the air, rather than water, so Snow faced criticism from others in the science community – not to mention resistance from the water companies. He finally convinced community leaders to remove the pump’s handle to prevent further exposure.
More than a century later, thousands of people still die from cholera each year, and providing clean drinking water to the world’s entire population is a far-off goal. The Pump Handle symbolizes both a public health victory and the challenges facing the public health and environmental fields today.
Most of this blog’s founding members are epidemiologists from the US, and we’d like to bring in writers from other disciplines and places. If you’re interested in contributing to The Pump Handle, please send an email to thepumphandle [at] gmail[dot] com. If you’d like to subscribe to our weekly email digest, send an email with “subscribe” in the subject line to that same address.
Click here to read about our contributors.
9 comments
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January 27, 2007 at 9:18 am
Dr. Rick Lippin
Congratulations to the founders of this excellent gathering place
Dr. Rick Lippin
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com
August 27, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Ed Darrell
A great idea, and a great name. For my blogging purposes, I hope you do a lot of history of public health, a topic which, for my money and time, is grossly overlooked in U. S. history texts for junior high and high schools.
Rather hot issues for me at the moment: 1.) Whether understanding of evolution is of any use in medicine; 2.) Fighting malaria, and the role of DDT — as well as any public health hazards of DDT; 2.)(a.) Whether the proponents of removing bans on DDT are connected to pro-cigarette campaigners, and if so, how; 3.) Public health purposes behind anti-spitting ordinances, and whether they still apply; 4.) How public health has affected history, and how much of that story should be told in U.S. history courses in public schools.
Keep up the great work!
May 1, 2008 at 8:32 am
George Davis
Great Blog! TPH has been an excellent reference for news and for our writers. We appreciate what you do and your attitude toward safety and health!
August 25, 2008 at 3:03 am
Matt
Hey I was checking out your blog, and found it very interesting. I was wondering if you like to trade links with my site http://jaajoe.com/Health-Nutrition-and-Medicine/ . If so please email me.
September 22, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Heather
Very interesting site. I stumbled across “Pump Handle” when I was doing some research. I will definately bookmark. Thanks! H
September 23, 2008 at 10:23 am
Joe Stafura
Greetings,
I’m writing on behalf of the Clean Water Pipe Council. We’re an advocacy group concerned about the safety of drinking water, and we’re particularly concerned with PVC pipe, and its potential health hazards. While many people are well aware of the risks of using PVC in children’s toys and food packaging, very few know how PVC affects water quality.
After reading your blog, we’ve noticed that you often post on issues relating to environmental safety. And because we have similar interests, we’d like to introduce you to our CWPC blog. You’ll notice that we pay close attention to informed articles like those on your site, because they inspire us to add information about safe drinking water. We welcome you to look over our website and blog, and to send us anything you might consider relevant to our mission. Of course, we’d be honored to have your permission to link to your site, and will extend the same courtesy to you.
If you’d like more information about our mission and goals, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail our blog master at cwpcblogger@gmail.com .
Thank you for your time and consideration, and keep up the good work,
CWPC Bloggers
November 12, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Rebecca
Hello Celeste,
I’m Rebecca and I work with Ansell Limited and am a proponent of Occupational Safety. After reading your post “Worker Involvement: Critical to Health and Safety” I think you will be interested in what Ansell is doing for the PPE industry.
Safety professionals have often felt isolated, only getting the chance to network with colleagues once or twice each year at trade shows and
conferences. Many safety professionals are the sole individuals at their companies doing the important job of ensuring workplace safety. It can be a lonely road.
But not anymore! The Online Safety Community, located at http://www.safetycommunity.com, is a free social network created for safety
managers, foremen, safety engineers, factory and construction workers and anyone for whom workplace safety is a profession or a passion. The site, sponsored by Ansell Limited, is an opportunity for professionals to share ideas, read and comment on industry news stories, and work together to pioneer new ways of making workplaces safer and more productive.
Before the Online Safety Community, interaction and networking with your fellow safety professionals may have taken place only a few times
per year during tradeshows. By joining the Online Safety Community, you’ll have 24 hour access to the most up-to-date information and the
brightest minds in the industry.
Once you sign up, don’t forget to participate. You can:
* Personalize your page with a customized theme
* Post photos and videos to your page or to the main blog
* Start your own blog
* Comment on other pages, blog posts and articles
* Invite your colleagues and friends
* Add friends to build your network
The more you participate and contribute to the Online Safety Community, the more you’ll get out of it. As we all begin to share and
interact online, knowledge is spread and workplaces will become even safer!
We look forward to seeing you in the Online Safety Community, where we are all about promoting a safer and more productive workplace.
Hope to see you on the community site soon!
Thanks,
Rebecca Roebuck
http://www.safetycommunity.com
January 29, 2009 at 2:17 am
Bill Marler
I added Pump Handle as a link to http://www.marlerblog.com. When I was in England last Spring speaking before the Royal Society of Public Health I joined the John Snow Society – and had a beer at the bar on Broad Street. Bill
June 2, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Cynthia Tara Ferguson
Greetings All,
As I have perused the “Pump Handle”, I’ve been impressed with the quality and quantity of its contributions. I may have missed it, however, I didn’t see any areas pertaining to issues of Violence and Public Health in particular, and would love to see a specialized area created for this in the Pump Handle. Issues of violence are becoming an important area of consideration in the Public Health arena because violence truly impacts the health and well being of our communities worldwide.
To highlight the importance of this subject, I’ve attached a portion of a paper I previously wrote on this issue. The purpose of this is to initiate future conversation and consideration of including a new section in the Pump Handle dedicated to Violence Assessment, Prevention and Response (VAPR) in Public Health.
Thank you.
Cynthia T. Ferguson
*****************************
Violence as a Public Health Issue
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has only recently recognized violence as a significant Public Health issue. From criminal incidents such as sexual assault, domestic violence, homicide and suicide; medical providers, and other members within the healthcare system sometimes find themselves caught in between the two worlds of medicine and law. Medical providers who address cases related to violence frequently devote long hours of medical service towards these patients because of the complexity of the care they become involved in, however there are few resources available for them to turn to. Although medical providers frequently encounter aspects of violence in their daily patient care routines, issues related to violence remain inadequately addressed within national and state Public Health policy, and therefore efficiency and efficacy of violence prevention programs are suboptimal.
In 1979, the Carter Administration’s U.S. Surgeon General Julius B. Richmond identified violent behavior as a key public health priority . In the year 1980, the CDC made a particular effort to study the patterns of violence, and their efforts grew into a national program aimed at reducing the death and disability of violence associated injuries in the workplace. In 1992, the CDC established the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) with the purpose of having it serve as the lead federal organization for violence prevention. Currently, the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) serves as one of three divisions within NCIPC.
The main mission of the Division of Violence Prevention is to prevent both injuries and deaths that result from violence, and its goal is to do this by stopping violence before it begins. The DVP feels this can be done by: utilizing database systems to monitor all violence-related injuries; researching factors that put individuals and communities at risk and/or factors that protect them from violence; and assessing, planning, implementing violence programs as well as evaluating the effectiveness of those programs.
While the CDC has begun to develop programs and policy that link violence programs together, and has begun pooling resources; individual U.S. states, other federal programs and the Department of Defense (DoD) have yet to recognize the benefits redesigning the structure of their violence prevention programs. Independent silos of violence prevention exist in the health care arena, and many of these silos of prevention are structured around the social services/psychology programs instead of Public Health programs. By developing state and federal programs that address violence overall, and by utilizing shared education and training, staffing, policy, and database resources, there can be maximum efficiency and efficacy within the system.
Violence issues most frequently encountered in the medical system include the following: Sexual Assault; Domestic Violence; Adult Assault; Child Sexual and/or; Physical Abuse; Trafficking of Persons; Workplace Violence; Gang Violence; Hate Crimes; Stalking; Suicide and Homicide.
Each one of the issues listed has an independently financed state and/or federal program dedicated to it, and each of these programs is housed in its own independent public health office.
The existence of violence within the United States is a significant health problem that affects people in all stages of life, from infants to the elderly. As an example, in 2005, there were 18,124 deaths from homicide as well as 32,637 from incidents of suicide. It is important to understand that violence unravels and deteriorates communities as well as individuals, by reducing productivity, disrupting social services and decreasing the value of local property. In addition, survivors of violence suffer permanent physical and emotional scars, and many have a greater need of counseling services, as well suffer as an increased risk of future violence, homicide and suicide incidents.
Understanding this, it is up to Public Health to address issues of violence, to gather data, to assess its origins and impacts, to consider appropriate responses via programs and interventions related to violence. Until Public Health begins to lead the way in violence prevention and response in communities, efforts to combat violence and to reduce its effects will remain largely inefficient and ineffective.
References
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (2008) Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention. Retrieved on 16 January, 2009 from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/PublicHealthApproachTo_ViolencePrevention.htm
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (2008) Violence Prevention at CDC. Retrieved on 16 January, 2009 from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/prevention_at_CDC.htm