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. 2015 Nov 11;2(3-4):113-120.
doi: 10.1080/21665044.2014.1103123. eCollection 2014 Jul-Dec.

The public health response during and after the Lac-Mégantic train derailment tragedy: a case study

Mélissa Généreux  1 , Geneviève Petit  2 , Danielle Maltais  3 , Mathieu Roy  4 , Robert Simard  5 , Sonia Boivin  5 , James M Shultz  6 , Linda Pinsonneault  1
Affiliations

The public health response during and after the Lac-Mégantic train derailment tragedy: a case study

Mélissa Généreux et al. Disaster Health. .

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Disaster Health. 2016 May 25;3(2):66. doi: 10.1080/21665044.2016.1189295. eCollection 2016. Disaster Health. 2016. PMID: 31265713 Free PMC article.

Abstract

On July 6th 2013, a train derailment occurred in the small town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, causing a major human and environmental disaster. In this case study, we comprehensively describe and analyze actions taken by the Public Health Department of the Eastern Townships, in close collaboration with community-based organizations, during both the impact phase emergency response and the post-impact recovery operations that continued for months. Due to the complexity of the event, public health actions needed to be broadly diversified. Preventive measures targeted chemical, physical, biological, and psychosocial hazards in the short-, medium- and long-term. Our analyses yielded valuable lessons that will improve and inform our response to future events while serving as a basis for developing a conceptual framework for public health emergency preparedness.

Keywords: anthropogenic disaster; disaster cascade; human-generated disaster; rail disaster; risk landscape; technological disaster; transportation disaster.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Aerial photograph of the train derailment in downtown Lac-Mégantic (July 6th 2013). Source: Railway Investigation Report R13D0054. Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Health surveillance in the recovery phase: Conceptual framework.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Prevalence of self-reported depressive episode in the past 12 months according to exposure intensity, random sample of 8,737 adults in Eastern Townships, including 811 adults in the Granit RCM, summer 2014.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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