Program Focus Is Poison Detection

The Ventura County Medical Center is set to host a workshop next week aimed at helping health care providers identify the signs and symptoms of pesticide poisoning.

The training will be offered from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Cowan Conference Center, 550 Airport Way in Camarillo.

The program will include an overview of pesticide use by a representative of the Ventura County agricultural commissioner’s office and a seminar on reporting, recognizing and managing pesticide-related illnesses.

The workshop also will feature a seminar on the risks of pesticide poisoning to particularly vulnerable segments of the population, such as children and farm workers.

“We often find that health care providers have not had any significant training on the issue of pesticides,” said Eileen McCarthy, an attorney with the Oxnard office of California Rural Legal Assistance. The farm worker advocacy group is sponsoring the event along with the Environmental Defense Center and Central Coast Environmental Health Project.

“We want to increase awareness so that when health care providers are treating or examining people, they’ll be sensitive to the possibility that the person may have been poisoned by pesticides,” McCarthy said.

Friday is the last day to register for the workshop, and seating is limited. For more information on the event, call California Rural Legal Assistance at 486-1068.