A Special Tribute and Farewell to FEHA’s Executive Director Emeritus: Bill Tennant

It is with great sadness we pay due homage and say farewell to one of our most celebrated FEHA members, our own Executive Director Emeritus, Bill Tennant. 

Tennant passed away Sunday, October 14, 2007.  He was 89.  For many years he was the director of environmental health at the Escambia County Health Department, beginning work in the mid 1940s and retiring in 1981.

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10 Years with Pandemic Flu Headlines: What We Still Don’t Know
By William G. Brookman

Introduction

It has been 10 years since the outbreak of avian influenza. On May 10, 1997, a 3-year-old boy in Hong Kong presented with flu-like symptoms and died five days after hospital admission.1 On December 17th of the same year, CNN posted a story to its website titled: “Researchers rush to solve flu mystery”2. How would this flu spread? Where did it come from? Is there an effective vaccine? The world community wanted answers. Scientists began to unravel some of the mysteries, and then in 2002, H5N1 virus reemerged in Hong Kong....

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Living in the Shadow of the Pandemic – A 10 Year Florida Perspective
by Jack Pittman

On May 29, 1997, a weak, low-level circulation developed within a cluster of thunderstorms over the Florida Straits, two days prior to the official start of the hurricane season.  But whatever traditional Florida hurricane season angst that may have been developing quickly dissipated along with this storm system.  There would be six named storms in 1997 with only one, Hurricane Danny, coming even close to landfall in a Florida county.

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Ionizing Radiation: Our Constant Companion
By Heather D. Skowron, MS

Have you left your brick house or brick office to take a walk in the sunshine?  In this case, you are leaving one radioactive environment and entering another.  Are you visiting friends living in Colorado or Washington D.C?  From the moment the plane takes off to when you land in the mountains or tour our Capitol buildings, you are receiving a greater dose of radiation than you would if you stayed in Florida.  Bananas are the most commonly consumed fruit in this country and contain naturally higher levels of radiation than other foods (National Research Council 1990).  Have you had one today?

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Historical Changes in Public and Environmental Health
By Eanix Poole

(Editor’s Note: Eanix Poole presented this information at the 60th annual education conference of the Florida Environmental Health Association in Orlando, Florida in August 2007.  To document dates and information, Poole reviewed several years of State Health Annual Reports, Florida Health Notes, Florida Statutes and Laws of Florida.  Opinions expressed are solely those of the author and presenter.)

Change is the constant that we all live by.  According to words of wisdom from a television sage, “change is inevitable, except from vending machines.”  Change requires lots of energy and is most often accompanied by stress.  Change is usually met with resistance and apprehension.  Some changes are positive and some are not so positive.

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Twenty Years of Determining the Public Health Risk of Florida’s Hazardous Waste Sites
by Lu Grimm

1987 was a year to remember.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first black woman - Aretha Franklin.  U.S. Senator Gary Hart bowed out of the race for the Democratic Presidential candidacy, while the Reverend Jesse Jackson launched his second campaign for the same job.

“The Simpsons” cartoon first appeared on the Tracy Ullman Show, bringing a new irreverent view of suburban family life.  The initial construction of the Channel Tunnel promised to connect England and France in a way never before thought possible.  Black Monday occurred on October 19 as the stock market fell drastically on Wall Street and worldwide, and Baltimore was the setting for the first heart-lung transplant ever.

1987 was also the first year the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) began funding a program in the Florida Department of Health (DOH; then known as the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services).  The new cooperative agreement provided for studies designed to determine what kind of potential health risks did hazardous waste sites in the state pose.  The initial award was $190,843 and covered a one-person program.

Florida Sweeps the National Radon Poster Contest
By Jorge Laguna

Each year, the National Safety Council (NSC) holds a National Radon Poster Contest for children ages 9 to 14. The purpose of the contest is to raise radon awareness and increase the number of homes tested for radon. 

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• Also in this issue:

  • President's Message
  • Editor's Message
  • Book Review
  • District News from the Big Bend, Halifax, Tampa Bay Area, and Treasure Coast Central districts.
  • The Florida Journal of Environmental Health Welcomes Our New Cartoonist: Jeremy Buchanon.