HELENA — We are entering the peak of Montana's potential flood season. While we are most familiar with the destruction floods can cause to roads, bridges, and homes, they can also lead to unseen dangers that linger well after flood water recedes. Those dangers were the focus of the annual Association of Professionals in Infection Control conference in Helena Friday, as experts examined how to safeguard drinking water and reduce the risk of waterborne illnesses.
"We want to be prepared for what's next, we want to be prepared if there is a flood, or another flood, and we want to be prepared when these things happen," Lacey Taylor, the president of APIC and infection preventionist, says.
Disease prevention experts, nurses, other medical staff, and the state health department gathered to share their emergency response plans for floods, diseases, or water quality management.
Simulation in Motion Montana led a tabletop exercise, and Jason Mahoney, the classroom program director, says, "We give them challenges and questions to work through what their plans are, but so much of this is based on how well entities can coordinate and communicate between themselves."
Each year, the simulation at the conference is based on a different emergency that intersects with infection. This year was all about waterborne pathogens, specifically in relation to flooding.
Taylor says, "Conferences like this help us conceptualize these types of scenarios and work through those responses, and so we know ahead of time what we are going to do."
Floods can contribute to the spread of diseases by contaminating water sources. The best way to avoid this is to ensure the water you are drinking is free of contaminants through safe storage, boiling, and filtration.
Also: have a contingency plan to get out of the flood zone.
"We love helping folks increase their capability and confidence in responding to the vast realm of things folks in these types of jobs deal with," Mahoney says.
As communities across the Treasure State face these potential risks, safety is not just measured by response but by preparedness.
