The Public Health Engineer in a Small County Health Unit

p ROBLEMS of personnel and personnel functions in the field of environmental sanitation are receiving increased attention from those interested in public health engineering. This interest is reflected in the discussions of fellow workers, in committee work of -the American Public Health Association, and in current publications. In reviewing some of the published material concerning this field of interest, it is evident that one of the major questions under discussion is whether it is practicable and desirable to use trained sanitary engineers for the environmental sanitation work in the smaller units of public health organization. In most cases, it has been generally accepted in theory, if not in fact, that the training of the public health engineer is the minimum preparation necessary to direct the sanitation activities properly in the larger administrative divisions. The acceptance of such a premise concerning the smaller units has not as yet taken place due largely to economic considerations. The role of the public health engineer in the smaller administrative units has been ably presented by others,1' 2, 3 and need not be repeated here. Perhaps one of the reasons that economic considerations play such a strong part in -decisions to use less well qualified per.sonnel in the smaller administrative