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Public Health, Firefighters and Unions Describe Workforce Strain and Health Risks From Wildfires
Summary
LA County Public Health staff, union members and Pasadena firefighters described deployments to shelters and disaster sites, mass staff displacement, PPE and long-term occupational-health risks including elevated cancer and behavioral-health needs among first responders.
Public-health staff, union representatives and firefighters told the Assembly Health Committee that the January wildfires strained workforce capacity across agencies and exposed first responders and public-health personnel to acute hazards that may carry long-term health consequences.
Cynthia White, a data conversion equipment operator with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and SEIU Local 721 member, said she and colleagues were deployed to resource centers and shelters and that "when disaster strikes, all public health workers become disaster workers." White described distribution of…
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