S.C. DHEC: Environmental Public Health Tracking

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control - www.scdhec.gov

My Health & Environment - Environmental Public Health Tracking

Take Action to Improve Your Health and Environment.

What is a Success Story?

A Success Story is an action taken by you, a community, or decision makers to improve the environment and/or public health usually as a result of a public health and/or environmental issue or concern. We are looking for people to use the data and information on our Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) web site to drive actions that resolve a problem or concern.

Why are Success Stories Important?

Success Stories provide evidence that there is value in making health and environmental data more available with the aim of improving the health of the community residents and their environment. They also provide tangible proof to support the need to continue funding the EPHT program by establishing relationships between disease and environmental hazards, preventing risk of harmful exposures, and guiding future environmental public health policy decisions and strategies.

Have your story posted on the EPHT web site!

All stories are welcomed and appreciated. These stories are examples of how the data and information provided by the EPHT web site are used. Our hope is that by displaying personal stories, others may be encouraged to take action to effect positive change for public health and a safer, cleaner environment.

Feature Story

I love the new EPHT Coastal Environment page! I recently had a class project that focused on “Dolphins as sentinel species” and I used your Coastal Environment page for my research and included the “Dolphins Go to the Doctor” video as part of my presentation. This made it so much more exciting for the audience and even the teacher instead of me standing up and boring everyone to sleep! Who knew that the same diseases that show up in dolphins might cause similar risks for humans? BTW…got an “A” for my grade…this web site rocks!

~ John in Charleston, SC

Example I Success Story
Content Area: Air Quality
Issue/concern: An orange ozone action day (concentration that is unhealthy for sensitive groups such as people with asthma or other respiratory issues) for ground-level ozone has been forecasted and you have asthma.
Action Taken: You coordinate carpooling to work with neighbors to do your part to reduce air pollution and you exercise inside to protect yourself from triggering an asthma attack.

Example II Success Story
Content Area: Cancer
Issue/concern: Cancer data is showing a rise in lung cancer around your community
Action Taken: Your neighborhood association contacts local county officials to propose a “smoking ban” policy in the restaurants surrounding your community.

Example III Success Story
Content Area: Childhood Lead
Issue/concern: High lead concentrations in children are an issue of concern in your community.
Action Taken: The community neighborhood association applied for a grant to evaluate and remove the source of lead in the area.

Tell us your Success Story!

If you wish to submit a success story that was inspired by EPHT, please complete the form below:

Name: (include if you want your name referenced if chosen as the feature story)

E-mail Address: (include if you would like an e-mail response or feature story notification)

Location: (required) (include your City, State or Country)

Which EPHT Content Area(s) have you viewed? (required)

Air Quality	Carbon Monoxide (CO)	Drinking Water Quality
Birth Defects	Childhood Lead	Hospitalization
Cancer	Coastal Environment	Mothers & Babies

How did you use the data and information? (required)

Research for paper or grant	Work related	Personal health or prevention
Environmental Action	Make policy change	Increase or promote awareness
Other

Please tell us your story. Mention the issue/concern, “Content Area(s)” used, how the data and information were used, and any action taken to improve your health, someone else’s health or the environment. (required)

Would you like your story to be considered for our "Feature Story"? (required)
Yes, with first name and location
Yes, with location only
Yes, anonymously
No

For additional information, contact the SC EPHT program: epht@dhec.sc.gov

For additional information, email epht@dhec.sc.gov

These web pages are supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 5U38EH000628-02 from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.