The flooding across Nebraska and Iowa can heighten the risk exposure to health threats such as mold, tetanus bacteria, contaminated well water, hypothermia as well as increased mental stress.
Ellen Duysen, outreach specialist from the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) at the University of Nebraska Medicine Center College of Public Health, said these threats may be significantly greater on farms and ranches where inherent farm hazards such as machinery and equipment, livestock, and agriculture chemicals are displaced and co-mingle.
These hazards can put farm workers, their families and emergency response personnel in danger.
In an effort to provide information on the risks and precautions that can be taken during flood recovery, a free webinar is planned.
The webinar, “Winter Farm Flood Health Threats – Risk Factors during Recovery,” is scheduled for Thursday March 21 from noon to 1:15 p.m. (CDT). The webinar is a collaboration between the AgriSafe Network and UNMC’s CS-CASH program.
Topics related to safe flood recovery will include mold, livestock diseases, grain handling safety, cold stress, well water safety, and mental stress.
The webinar is free but participants must register. The registration website is: https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/8904390917048497666.
The seminar will be recorded, so if you are unable to attend a link will be available on the CS-CASH website, https://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/cscash/.
If you have questions related to farm cleanup following flooding, please contact Duysen at ellen.duysen@unmc.edu.
We are Nebraska Medicine and UNMC. Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr
Free webinar offers safe cleanup advice on farms/ranches following flooding
Some of the flood devastation in Nebraska is obvious from this aerial photograph of farm property between Fremont and Omaha. (Photo by Zach Duysen)