In the Trench with Public Health | Eastern North Carolina Now

    November 25th is Public Health Thank You Day. This day is celebrated on the Monday before Thanksgiving and is used to remind us of how Public Health is on the frontline in keeping Americans safe from disease and illnesses.

    The timing of a day dedicated to Public Health could not be better. This is, after all, near the start of the influenza season and serves as a reminder just how important vaccinations are. I'm not talking just the "flu" vaccine, but also all the other vaccinations we receive. Many of us do not remember the days when our children suffered mumps, whooping cough, measles, German measles, polio, and chickenpox. Thanks to the public health effort, death and chronic consequences from these diseases have nearly disappeared in our country.

    The close proximity of Public Health Thank You Day to the Thanksgiving Holiday also reminds me of food safety and the importance of proper food handling and cooking. Public Health has always been heavily involved in quality of food items, inspection of places that serve food, making recommendations to prevent food borne illness, and when things still go wrong - outbreak investigations which lead to improvements and educational opportunities.

    Public Health is behind the scene or on the front line with many other aspects of health. They are involved in drinking water safety, nutritional health, behavior education, health promotion, disease screening, population case management, health coalitions, communicable disease treatment, and much, much more. Public Health is multidisciplinary and a vital part of a community's infrastructure. It is all around you, but often times not recognized until something goes wrong.

    This brings me to another irony regarding the date chosen for Public Health Thank You Day; football season and my favorite analogy for Public Health.

    In a football game a touchdown is considered a good thing; unless of course your team is on defense. When it comes to disease prevention, we are on defense. Allow for the Wide Receiver (WR) to represent a normal everyday person, and the catching of a football as the development of a disease. To further the analogy, a touchdown represents death. When the Quarterback (QB) throws the ball, the WR might catch the ball or might not (risks factors). Being on Defense, we do not want the WR to catch it, but if they do, the defensive backs (medicine) try to make a tackle before a touchdown is scored. Public Health is like the defensive front line and the blitzing linebacker. Our goal is to sack the QB, rush the QB into a bad throw, or to bat the ball down at the line of scrimmage. We will never know if the WR would have caught that ball or not, but we can celebrate the fact that the reception certainly was not made nor was a touchdown scored.

    Public Health Thank You Day is the opportunity for fans to say thank you to that defensive line and the hard work done "in the trenches". As a county Health Director, I am not writing this article to give thanks to what I do, but rather a chance to say thank you to all those out there in our society that contribute to Public Health. Thank you to the medical provider talking to your patient about changes in behaviors that are detrimental to wellness, to the advocate groups concerned about healthy eating and active living, to governing bodies willing to make policies that protect people from exposures and harm, to coalitions tackling social determinants of health, to parents talking to children about smart choices, and most especially to those that work in or with the Public Health Department. Your efforts do make a difference to the final score.

    James A. Madson, RN, MPH
     Health Director

    Beaufort County Health Department
     (252) 940-6533