Frustrated staff from LPHAs and local healthcare providers in Kansas began calling the Poison Control Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center for direction and resources. The state lead poisoning prevention program was eliminated and the local public health departments (LPHAs) and health care providers were left with few resources to care for their lead poisoned children. Such was the case in the State of Kansas. Public Health Issue: Two years ago, when the US Center’s for Disease Control (CDC) funding for Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention was cut, many state and local lead poisoning prevention programs and services were eliminated. The demographics of Kansas City, proper are sixty percent (60%) white, thirty percent (30%) black or African American, and ten percent Latino (though parts of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area approach thirty percent (30%) Latino. KCHD also serves, provides resources for and collaborates with, the residents and agencies in the fourteen county, Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. In addition, KCHD serves the daily population of approximately 1 million which includes residents as well as people who work within the City. The Kansas City, Missouri Health Department (KCHD,) is an urban, local health department which is designed to serve the population of just over 500,000 people who reside within the three hundred and eighteen (318) square mile City limits. This project was a strange sort of magic that used the expertise and determination of private and public agencies to create a system of care and resources with no funding and little mandate other than the call of need from other professionals with whom we share the goal of providing the best care for our children. The Kansas City, Missouri Health Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program collaborated with the University of Kansas Poison Control Center and the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at The Children's Mercy Hospital, the US EPA Region 7, and The Kansas Department of Health and Environment developing a triage system and resource menu to assist the families of lead poisoned children, the healthcare providers and improve capacity of the LPHAs in the State of Kansas.
The Kansas City, MO Health Department, in response to repeated requests from the local poison control center and the local children's hospital, developed a regional collaborative to provide services in a neighboring state where recent Centers for Disease Control cuts resulted in elimination of services for lead poisoned children.While the affected state was able to provide education and training to the LPHAs in the affected area before the state lead poisoning prevention program was eliminated, LPHAs and healthcare providers voiced a need for continued support and resources in order to provide care for their lead poisoned children.
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