A program administered by ADHS helps Arizona emergency responders save lives by providing lifesaving naloxone to administer or leave behind when responding to opioid overdoses. State law permits EMS agencies to leave behind pre-packaged, intranasal naloxone (Narcan®) if an emergency medical care technician determines that it can be used in the future by the at-risk [...]
Our team has logged another week in the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) hard at work addressing Governor Ducey’s calls to action to address Arizona’s opioid epidemic. Just like last week, this week has been a busy one. This week, Governor Ducey issued an executive order to increase timely reporting of opioid-related data. This order [...]
Emergency medical service (EMS) workers, like paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMT), run toward dangerous and chaotic situations to treat the sick, injured and dying. In addition to training and experience, EMS workers rely on medical equipment, medicine, and their vehicles to save lives when every second counts. To highlight EMS Week, we’re putting a [...]
Our department's injury surveillance system achieved an overall score of 86.1 percent in a Traffic Records Assessment that was just completed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We exceeded the 24-state average score of 64.3 percent. The Traffic Records Assessment was managed by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, which worked with staff from our [...]
Community paramedicine is a paradigm shift for the use of paramedics in the US. It’s an emerging model in which paramedics function outside their usual emergency response & transport roles- delving into the world of primary care. As the health care world increasingly shifts toward prevention and well care- the system will increasingly demand more folks [...]
Earlier this week the Rural/Metro Corporation (a large provider of private ambulance in Arizona) announced that it had filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Company announced that the bankruptcy action will allow the company to… “significantly reduce its debt, renegotiate unprofitable contracts and free [...]
As our IT team was developing the electronic medical marijuana application tool they started seeing that the code they were writing had potential uses in other parts of the agency. In other words- that the basics of the Code could be used to electronify some of our other business lines. We looked for areas that consumed [...]
Many people don’t realize one of the critical functions the Department performs is certifying Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s), including Paramedics. Our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System currently certifies hundreds of new EMT’s and Paramedics each year, helping ensure that Arizona’s Fire Departments and ambulance companies have sufficient staff that are properly trained [...]
