C - Data Collection Flowchart

Note** the different parts of the graphic will highlight as they are discussed**

Let’s review the step by step process of data collection.  Once a chemical release occurs, the NTSIP state coordinator is notified.  The coordinator is the point of contact in each state and may be a Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, assigned public health associate. Initial notification can be from a variety of sources, including the federal DOT’s HIP and NRC. Other sources are specific to the state including the Poison Control Center, Department of Natural Resources, local health departments, State Bureau of Investigation, State Department of Agriculture, State Division of Emergency Management, the media, regional epidemiologists, State Police, and local emergency planning committees, or LEPCs. These notifications come through a series of outlets, such as phone calls, emails, and faxes, depending on what the state has negotiated. Each state must work to develop relationships and data sharing agreements with the agencies and organizations that provide the most information for that state. The two federal sources, NRC and DOT, need to be used by every state and ATSDR can assist you in obtaining that data. Internet search engines, like Google can be used to establish key word reporting criteria to catch media reports of interest.

Once NTSIP is notified, the coordinator has to review the information to determine if any additional agency needs to be notified of the spill so they can assist in remediation or any follow-up efforts that are conducted, including groundwater tests or epidemiologic studies. This notification process is referred to as alerting. The coordinator needs to track the alerts using an excel template that ATSDR provides so that program impact measures can be fulfilled.

 

Following notification, the coordinator enters the preliminary existing data received on the incident into the NTSIP web-based portal. The data entry portal gives an event ID that corresponds to both the reporting state abbreviation, the year and sequential number (e.g. NY20090001). ATSDR requests that states strive to enter the incident within 48 hours of occurrence to maintain situational awareness. The NTSIP goal is to have 80% of all incidents entered within 48 hours. Once the initial information on the incident is entered into the portal, the coordinator gathers additional information from any of the sources they have established data sharing agreements with and the media.  The corresponding event id is then pulled up in the portal and the incident is updated and saved with this additional information to create a complete incident story, including injuries and evacuations, related to the chemical release.  Depending on the information gathered from the additional sources, the state coordinator determines if the incident qualifies under the definition of a NTSIP eligible event.

 

To meet the 48 hour reporting requirement, states will enter all incident notifications into the portal and then after investigation they can decide whether the event qualifies as NTSIP eligible or not. States can then see how many incidents they investigated and can track interesting non-qualifying incidents that way too. When state data are downloaded, all incidents, qualifying or not, will be downloaded so states must take care to separate out the ones they want to analyze.

 

Coordinators then follow-up on their alerts to gain information on how the incident was remediated and if any further action is required to keep the surrounding community safe from exposure. This should also be included in the alert spreadsheet. Often success stories can be developed from this interaction.

 

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