It has been a busy four months since the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) submitted the Opioid Action Plan to Governor Ducey in September. The report on findings and recommendations was one of the requirements under the public health emergency declaration issued on June 5. The challenging work of reducing opioid overdoses has continued [...]
This week marks our second week of posting a report of real time data reported to us from healthcare providers, first responders, law enforcement agencies, and pharmacists in our coordinated response to the alarming increase in opioid deaths in Arizona. The data is cumulative since June 15, with a total of 444 suspected opioid overdoses, 36 [...]
On Monday, Governor Doug Ducey declared a public health emergency to address the alarming increase in opioid deaths in Arizona. Our team immediately sprang into action, activating and fully staffing our Health Emergency Operations Center within hours so that the numerous programs and offices across ADHS have a coordinated system for responding to the Governor’s calls to [...]
The 2016 Arizona Opioid Report is out today and the numbers are alarming. The data shows an average of two Arizonans die each day from an opioid overdose . We issued a news release highlighting the report and the threat to our community. The information in the report shows us 790 overdose deaths last year [...]
Last week we launched the Public Health Excellence in Law Enforcement program. This program was created to recognize the efforts of Arizona’s law enforcement agencies that work with their local EMS agency partners to train staff to recognize opioid overdose in the field, administer naloxone when necessary, and submit information to the Department of Health [...]
Last week we proudly released new Arizona Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for Arizona clinicians. They’re a voluntary, consensus set of principles and best practices for prescribing opioids. The Guidelines were built using the expertise of practitioners from across Arizona including representatives from professional associations, health plans, academic institutions, federal healthcare providers, and many others. The new guidelines [...]
