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The workshops highlighted the need for more routine communica-

tion with the law enforcement, public health, natural resource and

environmental research community for two major reasons:

1. Emergency managers were unaware that mortalities in the

natural environment could indicate a potential public health

crisis

2. During the recovery phase environmental and natural resources

restoration issues become major components in supporting

public health.

The workshops also identified the fact that many different federal and

state agencies were gathering environmental data, but they rarely

share information, since there is no common system to report and

link data. Even more important it was revealed that emergency

managers had little understanding of the potential implications relat-

ing to reports of natural resource mortalities. Following the workshop,

a commitment was made among participants to develop the ESN, as

a system to address this data gap. These findings match a GAO study

conducted in 2003 that reviewed preparedness levels across state and

local jurisdictions. A key finding was that state and local jurisdictions

expressed a desire for more sharing of best practices.

Environmental agencies are developing approaches to measuring

ecosystem health within the context of socio-economic realities.

The Integrated Ecosystem Assessment provides information so

managers and scientists can evaluate an ecosystem, develop options

for future action, and identify gaps in the understanding of the

issues.

The ESN is a component of the integrated assessment

process that more quickly highlights the mortalities of important

ecosystem keystone species. Additionally, the ESN is a part of the

Department of Homeland Security’s national preparedness capabil-

ity development process of: environmental monitoring and

assessment; natural resources restoration; and natural hazards moni-

toring.

Environmental insults are assessed within the context of long-term

and site-specific data sets. Ecosystem characterization and modelling

of ecosystem stressors are fundamental for scientists and policymak-

ers to identify the knowledge and data gaps that limit our

understanding, forecasting abilities and ultimately our

decision-making. The critical first step is to create a noti-

fication process among the agencies and experts that

regulate keystone species. These data sets are compiled

by agencies and experts alike. This network provides for

linking these data sets into real-time reporting of mortal-

ity events that allow quick notification among experts

and quick evaluation to determine if there are links

between and among the reported mortalities.

Development of the South Carolina environmental

surveillance network

The South Carolina Environmental Surveillance

Network is a real-time surveillance network of mortal-

ity incidents (such as fish kills, bird kills, animal disease

outbreaks, harmful algal blooms and marine mammal

strandings) that:

• Notifies participating network science and regula-

tory experts of mortality incidents

• Allows for quick assessments of potential links

between and among mortalities

• Provides a mechanism to alert the emergency

management community of incidents that could

impact commerce and the public health.

The ESN founding network participants are initially

composed of state and federal agencies that have regu-

latory responsibility over natural resources. Most of

these agencies have some natural resources responsibil-

ity including terrestrial, freshwater and marine

environments. The State Law Enforcement Division and

Emergency Management Division are also participants.

Initially, the participants are developing the network and

sharing the notification and communication responsi-

bilities. The agency and the subject matter species are

also listed for each agency within the ESN.

Expansion of the network is planned and future

participants managing species of concern will be encour-

aged

participate.

NOAA-CCEHBR

and

NOAA-NCDDC will manage the network initially.

ESN development and training: a consensus build-

ing process

The ESN was developed as part of the Team Based

Training Institute (TBTI) of the University of South

Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (USC-

CPHP) funded by US Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDCP). The TBTI was a series of in-person

workshops held over a six-month period with the goal

of providing teams of stakeholders the opportunity to

unite in their efforts to strengthen their communities’

preparedness to prevent, protect against, respond to, and

recover from threatened or actual emergencies. The

TBTI utilized a standardized planning process aligned

with the National Preparedness Guidelines. The plan-

ning process allowed for flexibility and adjustment

dependent upon the individual group’s focus and accom-

plishment. The USC-CPHP and TBTI are funded by

Cooperative Agreement U90/CCU424245-03 from the

Data management architecture of the South Carolina ESN

Source: NOAA NESDIS/NCDDC