The All Wales Environmental Health Surveillance
Project is the first population-based
surveillance system of acute chemical incidents
to have been described in Europe, although a
similar surveillance system has been operational
in some States in the United States of
America since 1990.12–14 We have shown the
necessity for a multi-agency approach as there
was little overlap in the incidents reported by
the various participating agencies. The combined
reports from the three participating
agencies, together with press cuttings, indicated
that on average 2.6 chemical incidents
involving community exposures and requiring
an immediate public health response occurred
each week in Wales with a population of about
2.9 million.