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Assembling the Pieces of the Puzzle: A Vapor Intrusion Case Studyby Lisa J. Campe
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Assembling the Pieces of the Puzzle: A Vapor Intrusion Case StudyLisa J. Campe, LSP, MPH Summary: The transport of chlorinated volatile organic
compound (VOC) vapors from groundwater into occupied buildings is of concern,
as indoor air concentrations of these compounds may present risk to occupants.
Often, indoor air concentrations are not measured and we rely on transport
models to estimate indoor air concentrations based on groundwater or soil
gas measurements. We evaluated residences in a neighborhood that had groundwater
impacted with chlorinated VOCs. We collected groundwater samples from
various wells around the neighborhood, and collected two rounds of soil
vapor and indoor air data from over 30 residences. Some of the residences
were located over the plume and others were not located over the plume.
In addition, ambient air samples were collected on each sampling day from
the neighborhood. We present the inter- and intra-medium concentrations
that were detected, as well as the data patterns that described the transport
of the VOCs. We also describe how the transport conclusions compared to
conclusions that would have been made if only fate and transport modeling
had been performed. In addition, we present the correlation of measured
indoor air concentrations to 'background' indoor air concentrations and
how indoor or ambient sources may have affected the indoor air results.
Biography: Lisa J. Campe, LSP, MPH; Vice-President Woodard & Curran, graduated with a BS in Geology from Duke University and received an MPH in Environmental Health from Boston University. Lisa has been consulting on risk-related issues for over 15 years. Prior to this she worked for the Colorado Department of Health. She has conducted risk assessments in a variety of contexts, ranging from regulatory compliance for Federal (e.g., TSCA, CERCLA, RCRA) and State (eg MA, TX, CT, ME, NH) programs ; product safety demonstrations; to litigation support. In her work, she is often called upon to present risk related information and issues to the public. Lisa gave a talk (August '03) on the subject of vapor intrusion and risk at EPA's RCRA conference in Washington DC. Woodward and Curran, 980 Washington Street, Suite 325, Dedham, MA 02026.
Tel: 781-251-0200; Fax: 781-251-9256
Risk Assessment and Medical Error Associated with Transitions of CareJonathan Wilwerding Summary: There is gathering evidence that preventable adverse
events pose a serious risk to the welfare of hospital patients. Indeed,
recent estimates imply that as many as 98,000 patients in the United States
die each year as a result of medical errors. One response to this evidence
is to adapt risk assessment (PRA) models developed for use in nuclear
power and deploy them in health care. In this study we test whether it
is feasible to use PRA methods to predict medical errors and identify
strategies for mitigating threats to patient safety. We specifically model
preventable adverse events associated with transitions of care. Transitions
are instances in which responsibility for patient care passes from one
set of agents in a hospital to another-e.g. from the Emergency Department
to Intensive Care. These changes in responsibility add a layer of organizational
complexity to patient care, and it is natural to suspect them of raising
the likelihood of error. This study explores whether it is feasible to
apply PRA models to predict medical errors caused when trauma patients
are transferred from the emergency room to the intensive care unit at
a hospital in rural Pennsylvania with a Level 1 trauma center. Jonathan
will present data sampled from the population of patients who arrive as
"trauma alerts". These are patients who might be critically
ill or injured and in more or less immediate danger of dying. The talk
will describe the use of fault trees to analyze the probability that such
patients will become unstable after transfer the ICU due to medical error.
Biography: Jonathan Wilwerding, Ph.D., is an Associate at Abt. Since joining Abt in 1997, he has worked on issues in i) labor economics and policy, ii) international and domestic health economics and policy and iii) applied econometrics. From 2002 through 2004 he directed an effort to evaluate the feasibility of using probabilistic risk assessment to explain medical errors. In 2004 he also served as technical advisor to the Ministry of Health and Central Bureau of Statistics in the Republic of Kenya, as they carried out an analysis of data on the use of healthcare in that nation. Since 2002, Dr. Wilwerding has worked on analyzing and forecasting healthcare spending in Jordan for the year 2015 and evaluating the effects of training programs on workforce attachment among welfare recipients in California. He directed technical development of the AIDS Treatment Cost model, a software tool intended to help developing countries estimate the costs of treating HIV/AIDS. He has also studied price inflation in the pharmaceutical industry, and the behavior of Medicare beneficiaries with regard to information about Medicare. Before joining Abt, Dr. Wilwerding worked at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work there included studies aimed at forecasting wages and employment of R.N.'s, as well as work on teen childbearing. In the still more distant past, Dr. Wilwerding was an academic philosopher at University College London and the University of California, where he taught courses on formal logic, model theory, and moral philosophy. Dr. Wilwerding holds advanced degrees from Harvard University and the University of California. Abt Associates, Wheeler St., Cambridge,
MA 02138 (617) 520-3020; Jonathan_Wilwerding@Abtassoc.com |
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