BOZEMAN -- The flood waters may be receding, but flood-related health concerns should not ebb, according to a health expert at Montana State University-Bozeman.
Dr. Patricia Butterfield, MSU professor of nursing, said some of the most serious health risks associated with flooding can come during clean-up.
Butterfield, a community health nurse who specializes in occupational and environmental health, says people now cleaning up homes and property should be aware of hazards posed by disease, injury and psychological stress. Butterfield was one of nine nurses who served on a National Institute of Health panel addressing environmental health problems.
"The greatest risk of disease comes from contact with disease-producing bacteria carried by floodwaters," Butterfield said. The bacteria originate from sewage and animal waste and can cause diarrheal diseases. Butterfield said both bacterial and chemical residues can contaminate water supplies some distance from their origination, and persons in flooded areas, especially those on private wells, should not assume their water is safe following a flood. The State Public Health Laboratory tests water samples for a variety of sources of contamination. The lab's phone number is 444-9549.
Butterfield recommends that flood victims pick up Flood Cleanup Health Tips, an "excellent" pamphlet produced by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and Montana Department of Environmental Quality. The pamphlet, available at local departments of health, includes tips ranging from how to disinfect water to how to get rid of "flood smell."
Butterfield said flood victims also don't realize that all items and surfaces touched by flood waters, including walls, bedding and clothing, must be disinfected. Depending on the item, disinfection may include washing or wiping down with bleach water and/or drying in the sun.
Victims should also be aware of potential chemical contamination of their property. "Floods frequently carry away chemical products stored in garages and shops," she said. "Containers may come to rest miles away from their point of origin and expose persons or animals to concentrated doses of chemicals." When in doubt, call the local county health department, she suggests.
Butterfield said the risk of food-borne illness varies according to degree of contact with flood waters and hours of power loss to the home. Generally, all non-canned goods that come in contact with flood water should be disposed of, she said.
Flood clean-up poses its own set of injury risks, she said. "Now is the time people are returning their furniture. They are also removing wet and soiled carpets from the floor. The risk of injury, especially back strain, to the movers can be very high." Butterfield recommends that flood victims take their time and use safe moving and carrying techniques.
Butterfield suggests that parents in areas where there is standing water find extra supervision for children. During this post-flooding period, children are at increased risk for nail and splinter injuries, sprains and lacerations, she said. She recommends parents making repairs of moving back in find as much off-site child care as possible.
To minimize health risks, Butterfield suggests that flood victims do the following:
In addition to risks of injury or illness, Butterfield said cleaning up following a flood can be psychologically stressful, and victims should be prepared to experience varying degrees of grief or even mourning from a loss of possessions, particularly cherished photographs or family painful. She said it is important to remember that stress and loss are highly individual and are responded to in many different ways.
"Montana people are tough and resilient," she said. "But many flood victims may need extra support from and family in the coming months."
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