National Classroom > Webinars > PEHSU Case Conference March 13 2019

PEHSU Case Conference Webinar

This webinar is part of an ongoing series of educational presentations by experts on issues that focus on current and emerging aspects of pediatric and reproductive environmental health.

An Approach to Elemental Mercury Exposure Clusters - March 13, 2019

The speaker will begin by presenting several clinical cases/case presentations. The cases to be presented will be provided in final proposal. This will be followed by a discussion of the outcome of the case with consideration and implications for current and future clinical and public health practice. The presenter will conclude by discussing preventive steps that can be taken to decrease exposure to environmental hazards and improve patient care.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

List signs and symptoms associated with inhalational mercury toxicity
Discuss challenges in the management of mercury toxicity
Describe cleanup of household elemental mercury contamination

Cases to Discussed

A family presented to a community emergency department (ED) twice within one week with worsening non-specific symptoms attributed to an infectious etiology. Thorough history taking on the third ED visit revealed this to be protracted elemental mercury toxicity which required chelation for two patients and extensive environmental clean up.
Three children presented in the ED with rash and fever. Initially sent home and returned the next day with worsening symptoms. The oldest child wondered if it could have been due to a silver like substance that he found in a bottle along the railroad track near his home.

Presenters

Paul Wax, MD, FACMT

Executive Director, American College of Medical Toxicology

Program Director, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units-West

Phoenix, AZ

Dr. Wax is the Executive Director of the American College of Medical Toxicology. He received his B.A from Dartmouth College, his M.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, his Emergency Medicine training at the UCLA Hospitals, and his Medical Toxicology training at Bellevue Medicine Center / New York University. He is Board-certified in both Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology.

Along with his part time role as the Executive Director of ACMT, Dr. Wax is a Clinical Professor in Surgery (Emergency Medicine) at the University of Texas, Southwestern School of Medicine where he is a member of the Section of Medical Toxicology and Director of the Medical Toxicology Clinic. Before joining ACMT in 2008 as its Executive Director, and the University of Texas Southwestern in 2006 as a part-time faculty member, Dr. Wax had faculty appointments in the Departments of Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine from 1991-2001 and the University of Arizona School of Medicine from 2001-2006. Dr. Wax previously served on the Board of Directors of ACMT from 1998-2008 serving as ACMT President from 2006-2008.

Elizabeth Silver, PharmD

Clinical Toxicology Fellow

Georgia Poison Center

Atlanta, GA

Dr. Silver completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2017 from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences located in Albany, NY where she discovered her passion for toxicology during a rotation at the Central New York Poison Center in Syracuse, NY. She then becamse licensed in the State of Georgia and completed and general post-graduate year of training in pharmacy at Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Silver is currently in her second year of post graduate training at the Georgia Poison Center as the clinical toxicology fellow. She is training to become an expert in the recognition, triage, and management of poisonings.

Webinar Recording and Materials

Continuing Education Information

To obtain CE credit for this webcast you must first establish a login with the CDC. Click here to access the CDC Training and Continuing Education Online webpage. To receive continuing education (CE) for WD2622-031319 - Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units Case Conference Series - An Approach to Elemental Mercury Exposure Clusters - March 13, 2019 (Web on Demand):

Take the course on the PEHSU National Classroom
Please visit TCEO and follow these 9 Simple Steps before April 16, 2021
Search for the activity: WD2622-031319
Complete the Evaluation at www.cdc.gov/TCEOnline
Pass the posttest at 80% on TCEO (Posttest consists of a mix of five multiple choice and true/false questions.)
CE certificates will be available on your TCEO account

FEES: No fees are charged for CDC’s CE activities.

Accreditation Statement

Disclaimer/Acknowledgement

This material was supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement FAIN:5 NU61TS000237-05 along with the American College of Medical Toxicology and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement FAIN: U61TS000238 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Acknowledgement: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the PEHSU by providing partial funding to ATSDR under Inter-Agency Agreement number DW-75-95877701-05. Neither EPA nor ATSDR endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in PEHSU publications.