The Flash Environmental Assessment Tool: worldwide first aid for chemical accidents response, pro action, prevention and preparedness

Leo Posthuma; Emilia Wahlstrom; René Nijenhuis; Chris Dijkens; Dick de Zwart; Dik van de Meent; Anne Hollander; Ellen Brand; Henri A den Hollander; Johan van Middelaar; Sander van Dijk; E F Hall; Sally Hoffer

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2014.04.018

The Flash Environmental Assessment Tool: worldwide first aid for chemical accidents response, pro action, prevention and preparedness

Environ Int. 2014 Nov:72:140-56. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.04.018. Epub 2014 May 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: leo.posthuma@rivm.nl.
² Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, OCHA Emergency Services Branch, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; UNDAC, Switzerland. Electronic address: wahlstrom@un.org.
³ Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, OCHA Emergency Services Branch, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; UNDAC, Switzerland. Electronic address: nijenhuis@un.org.
⁴ Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate/International Enforcement Cooperation, Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, P.O. Box 1511, 3500 BM Utrecht, The Netherlands; UN Advisory Group on Environmental Emergencies, Switzerland; UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, Switzerland. Electronic address: chris.dijkens@ilent.nl.
⁵ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: dick.de.zwart@rivm.nl.
⁶ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: dik.van.de.meent@rivm.nl.
⁷ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: anne.hollander@rivm.nl.
⁸ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: ellen.brand@rivm.nl.
⁹ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: henri.den.hollander@rivm.nl.
¹⁰ Royal HaskoningDHV, P.O. Box 1132, 3800 BC Amersfoort, The Netherlands. Electronic address: johan.van.middelaar@rhdhv.com.
¹¹ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands; UNDAC, Switzerland; Dutch environmental assessment team (RIVM-MOD), The Netherlands. Electronic address: sandervandijk@pluriform.org.
¹² RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: lisbeth.hall@rivm.nl.
¹³ RIVM - Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Dutch environmental assessment team (RIVM-MOD), The Netherlands. Electronic address: sally.hoffer@rivm.nl.

PMID: 24880694
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.04.018

Abstract

The United Nations response mechanism to environmental emergencies requested a tool to support disaster assessment and coordination actions by United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams. The tool should support on-site decision making when substantial chemical emissions affect human health directly or via the environment and should be suitable for prioritizing impact reduction management options under challenging conditions worldwide. To answer this need, the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT) was developed and the scientific and practical underpinning and application of this tool are described in this paper. FEAT consists of a printed decision framework and lookup tables, generated by combining the scientific data on chemicals, exposure pathways and vulnerabilities with the pragmatic needs of emergency field teams. Application of the tool yields information that can help prioritize impact reduction measures. The first years of use illustrated the usefulness of the tool as well as suggesting additional uses and improvements. An additional use is application of the back-office tool (Hazard Identification Tool, HIT), the results of which aid decision-making by the authorities of affected countries and the preparation of field teams for on-site deployment. Another extra use is in disaster pro action and prevention. In this case, the application of the tool supports safe land-use planning and improved technical design of chemical facilities. UNDAC teams are trained to use the tool after large-scale sudden onset natural disasters.

Keywords: Chemical incident; Ecosystem services; Human health; Impact reduction; Natural disaster; Risk assessment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chemical Hazard Release* / prevention & control
Civil Defense*
Disaster Planning*
Disasters
Environmental Exposure / analysis
First Aid
Humans
Risk Assessment