Preparedness

Items in the Preparedness category will cover everything from Emergency Medical Services to vaccination programs. This division at ADHS tracks contagious disease, coordinates emergency preparedness activity, licenses EMTs and Paramedics, regulates ambulance companies, authorizes special hospital designations like cardiac care center and Level IV trauma center, issues birth and death certificates, and tracks critical health data through various sources including hospital discharge information.

50 Years of Newborn Screening

By |2017-02-10T09:50:07-07:00September 29th, 2013|General, Newborn Screening, Preparedness|

The first newborn screening test was developed in 1963 by Dr. Robert Guthrie to test for phenylketonuria, commonly known as PKU. Since then, scientists have developed more tests to screen newborns for a variety of severe conditions.  This year, the nation celebrates 50 Years of Newborn Screening. The State of Arizona currently screens for 29 [...]

Rural Metro Bankruptcy

By |2017-02-10T09:50:10-07:00September 9th, 2013|Preparedness|

A couple of months ago the Rural/Metro Corporation filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.  Last month I sent them a detailed letter asking for a host of financial and operational information about the company in order to determine whether the company still meets our statutory mandate (ARS 36-2201) and rules requirement (AAC R9-25-912(A)) [...]

Filariasis

By |2017-02-10T09:50:10-07:00September 5th, 2013|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

I thought I’d do a series on some interesting tropical diseases over the next few weeks.  Let’s start with a disease called filariasis- which can cause something called elephantiasis.  You’ve probably heard of a disease in dogs called heartworm.  It’s caused by tiny thread-like worms called microfilariae.  Like many diseases, there’s a similar disease that [...]

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Native American Trauma Report

By |2017-02-10T09:50:11-07:00August 27th, 2013|Preparedness|

One of the things you’ll see in our upcoming State Health Assessment is the fact that traumatic injury disproportionately impacts the American Indian population in Arizona.  To dive into the issue deeper and to help us design more effective interventions, our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System published our first Arizona American Indian [...]

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AZ’s Trauma System Makes the News Again

By |2017-02-10T09:50:12-07:00August 21st, 2013|Preparedness|

Four years ago- AZ's Trauma System was really in its infancy.   We had 7 Level I (high-end) Trauma Centers…  but that’s it.  After 4 years and a full court press- we now have a functional statewide trauma system to help folks who get injured outside the metropolitan areas that includes 31 trauma centers including 16 of the [...]

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Cottage Home Successes

By |2017-02-10T09:50:14-07:00August 11th, 2013|Preparedness|

A couple years ago, the legislature passed a bill to allow people to make certain foods at home and sell them to the public.  The food has to be a low-risk for food-borne diseases, but there's lots of options.  The program is a great success - we have more than 1,700 people registered for the [...]

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Rural Metro Bankruptcy

By |2017-02-10T09:50:16-07:00August 5th, 2013|Preparedness|

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 [...]

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Back to School!

By |2017-02-10T09:50:16-07:00August 2nd, 2013|Behavioral Health, General, Preparedness, Prevention|

Not so long ago (actually a long time ago) when I was a student I was bummed when it was back to school time.  Now as a parent…  I can’t wait.  This year we thought we’d pull together a hub website for parents and grandparents to find resources and information with helpful hints about the [...]

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ADHS’ Immunications Newsletter

By |2017-02-10T09:50:17-07:00August 1st, 2013|Preparedness, Prevention|

For the last few years our Immunizations team has been sending out revised and updated Immunications newsletters. The newsletters are geared to keep our stakeholders and partners current on the state and local immunization issues.  You can sign up to receive Immunications via email or get a hard copy in the actual mail.  The current issue of Immunications has: [...]

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Limit the Sun, Not the Fun- Be SunWise!

By |2017-02-10T09:50:17-07:00July 31st, 2013|Preparedness, Prevention|

A recent report by the American Cancer Society, suggests what many Arizonans may have suspected, that skin cancer is on the rise. An estimated 82,770 Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer in 2013. In Arizona, one in five of us is likely to develop some form of skin cancer.  The most common cause is overexposure [...]

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