NATIONWIDE HEALTH SURVEY TO ASSESS IMPACTS FROM KATRINA AND RITA

[Guest guest]

PARTNERS Louisiana Environmental

PUBLISHING LLC Action Networ

P.O. Box 34011 P.O. Box

66323

Knoxville, TN 37930 Baton

Rouge, LA 70896

www.partnerspublishing.org

www.leanweb.org

865-963-6758 225- 928-1315

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008

CONTACTS:

Lee Ann Billings lee Orr

Wilma Subra

Partners Publishing LLC Executive Director

Technical Assistant to LEAN

865-963-6758 LEAN

President, Subra Company

info@... 225-205-1438 337-367-2216

_www.partnerspublishing.org_ (http://www.partnerspublishing.org/)

_lean007@..._ (mailto:lean007@...) _subracom@..._

(mailto:subracom@...)

NATIONWIDE HEALTH SURVEY TO ASSESS PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS FROM

HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA

Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) and Partners Publishing LLC

Join Forces to Give Hurricane Victims a Unified Voice and Provide Statistical

Data

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 12, 2008 —Hurricanes Katrina and Rita impacted

the health of many individuals: residents, disaster rescue and recovery

personnel, remediation and rebuilding specialists—the list goes on and on . .

..

Now affected individuals can stand up and have their health concerns

counted. Two organizations, Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) and

Partners Publishing LLC, have joined forces to launch “The 2008 Nationwide

Hurricane Katrina and Rita Health Survey,†which is located online at

_www.partnerspublishing.org_ (http://www.partnerspublishing.org/) . The

nationwide survey

will provide statistical health data on not only Gulf Coast residents but also

on evacuees, volunteers, and workers that are scattered across the nation. A

Spanish version of the survey will be available no later than Monday, March

24, 2008.

The primary purpose of the survey is to identify the current health status

of individuals whose physical and psychological health remains negatively

impacted from exposures to flood waters, hurricane sediment, water-damaged

buildings, mold, formaldehyde and/or mold in FEMA-provided trailers, mobile

homes,

or park models, and/or other contaminants incurred during and/or after

Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and/or from other contaminant-laden

post-hurricane housing. The secondary purpose of the survey is to identify the

total

number of people who have become physically and/or psychologically ill since

hurricanes Katrina and Rita to assist in identifying health trends, patterns of

illnesses, and geographic clusters of increased levels of illnesses. For this

reason, the survey seeks to identify individuals by exposure location, health

status, and current residence as well as to assess the level of

health-enhancing information desired by affected individuals.

Individuals included in the following groups are asked to complete the

health survey:

* Individuals whose physical and/or psychological health has been

negatively impacted by exposure to contaminants incurred during and/or after

either hurricane Katrina or Rita. This group includes people who were exposed

to

flood waters, hurricane sediment, water-damaged buildings, mold, formaldehyde

and/or mold in FEMA-provided trailers, mobile homes, or park models, and/or

other hurricane-related contaminants.

* Individuals whose physical and/or psychological health has been

negatively impacted by living in a FEMA-provided trailer, mobile home, or park

model after either hurricane Katrina or Rita.

* Individuals who were a resident of a Katrina and/or Rita affected

area and have experienced negative physical and/or psychological health

effects, but have since relocated to an unaffected area.

* Individuals who volunteered or worked in a Katrina and/or Rita

affected area and have experienced negative physical and/or psychological

health

effects.

* Individuals who relocated to a Katrina and/or Rita affected area

since either hurricane Katrina or Rita and have developed negative physical

and/or psychological health effects.

* Individuals who have deceased next-of-kin whose deaths were related

to any of the above exposures.

More information regarding this health survey and complete detailed

instructions for filling out the survey can be found at

_www.partnerspublishing.org_

(http://www.partnerspublishing.org/) . The health survey will be available

for individuals to complete for an eight-week period, beginning Wednesday,

March 12, 2008 and ending Wednesday, May 7, 2008. Results will be compiled by

town, parish (county) and state. Results of preliminary data will be announced

midway through the survey time period. A full report will be prepared and

released at the end.

LEAN is a statewide coalition of more than 100 group members and several

thousand individual members that is dedicated to making Louisiana safe for

future generations. Partners Publishing LLC is a health- and

environmental-focused

publishing company that released the book, MOLD: The War Within, which

focuses on the health issues related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The health

survey was reviewed by Callaghan, MD, DC, at the Center for

Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

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