07/10/2026: Jet Fuel Exposure via Drinking Water Contamination: Clinical Care Lessons from Red Hill

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Jet Fuel Exposure via Drinking Water Contamination: Clinical Care Lessons from Red Hill

About the webinar:

The 2021 Red Hill water crisis exposed approximately 93,000 people in Hawaiʻi to jet-fuel-contaminated drinking water. While the crisis occurred in Honolulu, many exposed military families have since relocated across the United States and internationally. Drawing from the recent National Academies report, Clinical Follow-up and Care for Those Impacted by the JP-5 Releases at Red Hill, this Continuing Medical Education webinar will provide health care professionals with practical guidance for caring for patients who were exposed to jet fuel, including emerging recommendations for clinical evaluation, monitoring, treatment considerations, and patient support.

Developed by the Red Hill Registry, this course will guide learners through: 1) the ongoing impacts of hydrocarbon exposure; 2) clinical guidance given that currently little is known about the long-term and delayed health effects following jet fuel exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations; 3) the important role healthcare professionals play in supporting impacted communities and promoting awareness of available resources, and 4) the registry’s role in furthering research on health effects.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this activity, learners will be able to:

Discuss the 2021 jet fuel spill into the Oʻahu aquifer and tap water distribution system.
Identify potential acute and long-term health concerns associated with JP-5 and hydrocarbon exposure through contaminated drinking water.
Describe current recommendations for clinical follow-up, symptom evaluation, and supportive care for individuals impacted by the Red Hill water crisis.
Discuss the mission of the Red Hill Registry and how clinicians can connect patients with available health resources and monitoring opportunities.

Speaker: Rosana "Sanie" Weldon, PhD, MPH

Rosana Hernandez Weldon, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Weldon, Director of the Red Hill Registry, is an Environmental Health Scientist Associate Specialist faculty member in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research interests and expertise are in exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology with particular focus on women, children, and reproduction. During her career in Public Health she has worked on various large-scale, federally-funded studies to assess associations between chemical exposures, including pesticides, benzene, PFAS, persistent organic pollutants, and phthalates, and health outcomes. Dr. Weldon received her bachelor’s degree, Master of Public and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

Speaker: Tara Sutton

Tara H. Sutton is Director of Community Engagement at the Red Hill Registry. She is a dedicated community advocate and current master’s candidate in Geography & Environment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). She holds three bachelor’s degrees in Communicology, Anthropology, and Ethnic Studies from UHM. Her research focuses on the social impacts of environmental crises, specifically examining how crisis response tactics affect trust between the Department of Defense and their host communities. A resident of the Navy water line for 7 years, Tara has been personally impacted by the Red Hill water contamination, deepening her commitment to supporting affected families. As a mother and active community member, she brings a deeply personal and informed perspective to her role in facilitating the Red Hill Registry for those impacted by the water crisis.

Speaker: Dr. Seiji Yamada, MD, MPH

Dr. Seiji Yamada, MD, MPH is a professor at UH Dept of Family Medicine & Community Health and Clinical Liaison at the Red Hill Registry. Dr. Yamada is a family physician working and teaching in the area of the 2021 jet fuel spill.

Speaker: Dr. Jerris Hedges, MD, MS, MMM

Dr. Jerris Hedges is Dean Emeritus of the University of Hawaiʻi School of Medicine. After serving as dean for 15 years, he now leads an NIH-funded research program to address health disparities that disproportionately affect Hawaiʻi’s citizens who share less advantaged cultural and ethnic backgrounds, especially those of Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander and Filipino ancestry. Dr. Hedges is known internationally as the founding co-editor of one of the leading texts in emergency care, Roberts and Hedges’ Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine, now in its eighth edition. In Hawaiʻi, he is also recognized as a leader who has strengthened the medical school by building vital bridges with community partners and collaborators. Dr. Hedges was inducted into the United States’ National Academy of Medicine in 2000. Dr. Hedges has had an eclectic research career addressing myocardial ischemia recognition, trauma system evaluation methodologies, regional EMS research, and other topics.

ACCREDITATION

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 Contact Hour. Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the California Medical Association (CMA) through the joint providership of The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and Red Hill Registry, facilitated by the University of Hawaiʻi. The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health UC Berkeley is accredited by the CMA to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 12983, for 1.0 contact hour.

Certificates of Completion

Certificates of Completion will be available to webinar participants who are present for the complete, live webinar, and logged in with their registered email address. Call-in attendees are not eligible for certificates at this time - Please download the Zoom app to log in via email on your smartphone whenever possible.

In order to receive your Certificate of Completion, qualified learners must complete the post-webinar evaluation within 7 days of the webinar. A link to the evaluation will be emailed to qualified learners 24 hours after the webinar via no-reply@zoom.us. Qualified learners who submit their evaluation will receive a Certificate of Completion via email, and can also print/save the certificate from their browser after submitting their evaluation.

If you're not able to attend the live presentation, no problem! We record most presentations and will host them on our website provided we have permission to do so. Presentation recordings are not eligible for Certificates of Completion.

ACCESSIBILITY:

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this event, please contact Will Bellamy at (510) 642-8365 or wbellamy@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

About the Red Hill Registry

Co-designed with the community, the Red Hill Registry aims to track health outcomes and provide resources for those affected by the fuel spill.