NASEM to Host Workshop on California Wildfires and Health Impacts

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has announced it will host a two-day in-person workshop, “Implications of the California Wildfires for Health, Communities, and Preparedness.” The collaborative public workshop will be held on June 4 and 5 in Sacramento and will convene experts to address a series of topics related to public and environmental health, emergency preparedness, and public initiatives and services.

Objectives of the workshop include:

1) Assist in the identification of the current scale and probability of subsequent wildfires in high risk regions in the West, including but not exclusively in the state of California

2) Describe and define potential disproportionate deleterious outcomes on vulnerable populations in the geographic areas identified

3) Explore the residual and chronic health consequences resulting from wild fires, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease caused by released atmospheric particulate matter, housing displacement, and post traumatic psychological distress

4) Identify challenges resulting from the increased scale and population of the urban-wildland interface, and explore opportunities to increase community and individual preparedness in the face of the wildfire threat

5) Suggest opportunities for improved institutional and government actions and steps to mitigate the adverse and disproportionate impact of wildfires on vulnerable populations, including community preparedness, resilience and capacity building before, during, and after wildfires.

Additional information on the workshop, including registration, resources, and a forthcoming agenda, is available here.