1. CHAPTER 34 ENVIRONMENTAL CAREERS

2. Environmental Health Careers
Environmental careers create a supportive environment for patients
Support services (ancillary workers) maintain equipment and supplies needed for optimal care
Must know basic medical terminology and principles of asepsis

3. Table 34-1 Environmental Health Careers Educational Cost and Earnings

4. Box 34-1 Environmental Health Careers

5. Nutrition Services Dietitian
Provides nutritional counseling and services
Supervises food operations and manages the nutritional services of the health care system
Education
Bachelor’s degree in dietetic, nutrition, or food systems management, which includes an internship
Master’s or doctoral degree is preferred

6. Nutrition Services (Continued)
Dietary technician
Plans menu and supervises production of food
Education
2-year associate degree program
Dietary assistant (food service worker)
Prepares food and beverages
Collects empty meal trays and washes dishes
Training
On-the-job

7. Nutrition Services (Continued)
Weight reduction specialist
Counsels patients to lose weight using dietary and activity guidelines
Also called nutritionists, dietary consultants, or weight counselors
Licensing is under consideration in 31 states
Food scientist-technologist
Evaluates safety of food processing and ingredients
Develops new foods and methods for producing known foods
Education
Minimum of 2 years of college

8. Environmental Control Careers
Pollution control engineer
Analyzes contamination problems
Reviews data from potential sources of contamination
Calculates the pollutants being produced
Education:
Bachelor’s degree
Environmental engineer
Modifies facilities for environmental protection
Researches factors concerning population growth, industrial planning, and natural environments
Master’s degree is recommended

9. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Industrial hygienist
Conducts health programs in manufacturing plants and government agencies
Identifies, controls, and eliminates health hazards and diseases in the workplace
Education
Bachelor’s degree
Safety engineer
Identifies existing and potential hazards and develops methods to control hazards

10. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Health and regulatory inspector
Enforces laws and regulations concerning employment hazards
Regulates consumer products
Regulates quarantine for imported products

11. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Health physics technician (radiation monitors)
Tests air, soil, water, floors, walls, and other areas of human contact for radiation
Education
Degree in nuclear technology
Certification is available

12. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Ecologist
Analyzes and regulates the quality of the environment
Education
Baccalaureate degree in one of the major sciences
Sanitarian
Plans, develops, and executes environmental health programs
Sets and enforces standards concerning food, sewage, and waste disposal
Bachelor’s degree H

13. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Environmental health technician
Collects and analyzes air and water samples
Works under the supervision of sanitarian
Education
Associate degree or vocational program training

14. Environmental Control Careers (Continued)
Public health microbiologist
Conducts tests and studies relationships of people to organisms that cause pollution, diseases, or epidemics
Education
Minimum of bachelor’s degree in biological or life science
Licensure required in some states
Certification is available

15. Other Support Service Personnel
Equipment technician
Installs, calibrates, inspects, and maintains electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment
Areas of certification include
Biomedical equipment technician (CBET)
Clinical laboratory equipment specialist (CLES)
Certified radiological equipment specialist (CRES)
Education
2-year degree for biomedical equipment technician
Or on-the-job training

16. Other Support Service Personnel (Continued)
Surgical technician (Operating Room Technologist [ORT])
Works under the direction of a surgeon
Duties include maintaining the sterile field and passing instruments to the surgeon during the operation
Education
Completion of a vocational or hospital-based based training program of 9 to 12 months
Certification leads to Certified Surgical Technologist (CST)

17. Other Support Service Personnel (Continued)
Central service or sterile supply technician
Sterilizes, assembles, cleans, and stores diagnostic and surgical equipment
Education/training
Vocational and 2-year college programs
On-the-job
Central supply assistant
Inventories, receives, stores, and distributes equipment and products
Training is on-the-job

18. Environmental Resources and Hazards
Environmental resources are constantly being used and reused
Biosphere is the air, crust of the earth, and water
Made up of ecosystems
Ecology
Study of living organisms and how they relate to their environment
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is the federal agency that sets and regulates the standards for environmental factors

19. Figure Ecosystem

20. Air Pollution
Composed of dust and soot, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides
Thinning of ozone layer has resulted from air pollution
Increased the intensity of ultraviolet rays reaching the surface of the earth
Resulting in higher incidence of skin cancer
Physical effects of air pollution have been documented

21. Table 34-2 Air Pollution Facts

22. Noise and Water Pollution
Noise pollution
Loudness of sound is measured in decibels (dB)
Lowest sound that can be heard by the human ear is 1 dB
One third of hearing loss is attributed to environmental causes and could be prevented
There is excessive noise in homes and offices and in traffic and outdoor environments
Water pollution
Water is tested for quality
Water can be contaminated:
Directly by industrial plants, oil discharges, pesticides, fertilizers, and heat plants producing electricity
By chemicals and waste seeping into ground water

23. Table 34-3 Noise Pollution

24. Box 34-2 Ten Leading Work-Related Diseases and Injuries

25. Performance Instruction
Food preparation
Water analysis
Instrument maintenance