Last week in Arizona there were nearly 18,000 emergency calls to 911 reported through the Arizona Prehospital Information and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Registry System (AZ-PIERS). That included 1,271 calls about injuries related to falls, 567 for motor vehicle crashes, and 343 for cardiac arrest and strokes. We keep track of those numbers not out [...]
You might associate Crash Responder Safety Week more with our colleagues at the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona Department of Transportation. But it's special to ADHS as well because of our role in supporting Arizona's emergency medical services and trauma system. From 2019 to 2021, there were more than 100,000 traffic-related crashes involving [...]
Public health oversees many areas, one of which is the Arizona trauma system. Each year, the State Trauma Advisory Board collaborates with the ADHS Bureau of EMS and Trauma System to publish a report summarizing trauma in Arizona. Data reported to the Arizona State Trauma Registry from Arizona trauma centers is analyzed to illustrate top [...]
May is National Trauma Awareness Month, presenting an opportunity for each of us to recognize and appreciate the many people working to keep us safe. So does EMS Week, which will be from May 15-21. This year’s theme for National Trauma Awareness Month is “Safe Surroundings,” with a focus on preventing violence and promoting safety [...]
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 [...]
May 21-27 is Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week, and today is specifically recognized as EMS for Children Day. This year's theme is “EMS STRONG: Always in Service,” which for Arizona means a focus on the resiliency, wellness, and safety of EMS personnel. Arizona’s EMS personnel are an integral piece of our state’s public health and [...]
Our state’s trauma system is comprised of dedicated healthcare professionals delivering compassionate, quality care across 42 state-designated trauma centers (hospitals specializing in trauma care), 200+ emergency medical services agencies, and countless other first responders and heroic bystanders – all serving as a critical link in the trauma chain of survival for tens of thousands of [...]
The Buckeye Fire-Medical-Rescue Department recently became Arizona’s fourth emergency medical services (EMS) agency to successfully obtain ADHS Treat & Refer (T&R) EMS Agency recognition. Arizona's T&R Recognition Program recognizes EMS agencies that have demonstrated optimal patient safety and quality of care by matching appropriate treatment, transport, and care destination options to the needs of [...]
Arizona uses a Certificate of Necessity process to license ambulance services. This process can be challenging for new applicants because it uses terminology and accounting practices that the person responsible for completing the application may not be familiar with. To help overcome that problem, our Bureau of EMS and Trauma System has begun posting important [...]
Arizona uses a Certificate of Necessity (CON) system to regulate ground ambulance service in Arizona - and to make sure that every place in the State has adequate emergency medical services, including the frontier parts of Arizona. The CON actually describes the geographic service area, level of service (advanced life support or basic life support), [...]
