Montgomery County – Dayton, OH Public Health Emergency Response

It is necessary that Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County (Ohio) respond to various public health emergencies which occur beyond the normal business hours of operation.  Please use this correspondence as a reference to contact public health personnel for the below listed emergencies during weekends, holidays, and after normal business hours.

For Public Health Emergencies After Normal Business Hours:  Call Public Health Answering Service: 910-6049  (Do Not Release This Number To The Public)

For Public Health Emergencies During Normal Business Hours:  Call Environmental Health Offices:  225-4443  (This Number May Be Released To The Public)  Environmental Health Fax: 496-3072

The following program emergencies have been identified as needing immediate response.  Other complaints and/or requests should be reported the next business day.

ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY

• Fires in Public Food Operations: (Restaurants, Groceries, etc.) Call for fires which result in potential contamination of food or utensils, or when a fire suppression system or sprinkler system has been discharged.
• Water Pollution:  Call for accidental releases or spills of chemicals or other common contaminants such as a chemical tank truck crash or a train derailment causing a release of toxic chemicals into a water course that poses an IMMEDIATE THREAT to human health through contamination of private water supplies (private wells).
• Solid Waste Disposal:  Call for confirmed illegal dumping activities such as tank truck discharging liquid waste in a field or along a roadway, renewed dumping activity at a formerly closed landfill site, or open dumping activities.
• Food/Waterborne Illness:  Call for emergencies regarding foodborne or waterborne illnesses associated with facilities such as restaurants, grocery stores, festivals, swimming pools, etc.  Area hospital emergency rooms should report suspected food poisoning outbreaks involving two or more non-family members.
• Animal Bites/Rabies/Quarantine:  Call for dog and other animal bites (wild or domestic) when animal is not routinely quarantined and physician needs immediate information on rabies prophylactic measures.  Obtain name, address, and phone number of the victim for follow-up during normal business hours.  Emergency personnel can fax information to the office.  Environmental Health’s fax number is 496-3072.
• Air Pollution:  Call for accidental release of air pollutants which creates plumes or clouds of toxic air contaminants that may drift into residential areas and pose an IMMEDIATE THREAT to human health.
• Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management: Any calls from Emergency Management personnel regarding a community emergency should be directed to on-call staff.
• Heat Emergencies: Calls regarding heat-related/ozone emergencies should be directed to 911.  At the discretion of HelpLink operators, EH on-call staff can be contacted for any unusual business.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE EMERGENCY:  Call to report any Class A Diseases which are anthrax, foodborne botulism, cholera, diphtheria, Influenza A – novel virus, measles, meningococcal disease, plague, rabies (human), rubella (not congenital), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, tularemia, viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), and yellow fever.  Otherwise, report communicable diseases for follow-up during normal business hours at 225-4508.

BIOTERRORIST INCIDENT:  Call for any incident which alleges use of a biological agent (i.e., anthrax, smallpox, botulism, plague, tularemia, etc.) or chemical agent (i.e., sarin, cyanide, VX agent, etc.) to threaten the public health and safety.