Health Officials Working On Several Projects
The Roosevelt County Board of Health held a meeting last week that covered a variety of health-related topics.
Patty Presser, director of the health department, said the board meets quarterly for a total of four times a year.
Information shared at the meeting included the following: Tobacco prevention: AJ Allen, tobacco education specialist, discussed implementation of Senate Bill 390, which adds e-cigarettes and vaping to the Clean Indoor Air Act. As of May 13, both smoking and vaping are prohibited in indoor public places. Outreach will be ongoing with signage from the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program.
Allen also said that a new law regarding child car seats installation begins Oct. 1. Under the new law, the correct child car seat will be based on an age-based system instead of a weight-based system. updated guidelines also add a tougher side-impact crash test. A limited number of child car seats are available at the health department. Call 406-653-6223 for an appointment.
Sanitation: The county sanitation reported that all food vendors passed inspection during the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede.
Public Health Preparedness: Officials are working on a communicable disease plan including response to reportable diseases, surveillance of disease activity and rapid delivery of specimens. In addition, nurses work closely with the sanitarian regarding a food borne illness response plan because the food could be involved with schools and grocery stores.
Immunizations: Officials are proving extra space for the MMR vaccine if needed because of the amount of measles cases in Montana (27) and Williams County, N.D. Preparations are taking place for the fall vaccination campaign for respiratory illnesses including the flu, RSV, COVID and pneumococcal.
Communicable diseases: Offi- cials are seeing an uptick in COVID cases. Sexual transmitted diseases continue to be higher than the average for the county. Hepatitis C is also a concern.
The health department will host a “Safe Care for Suicide” training for health care providers on Aug. 14.
