environmental health

Fire Season Here Already

By |2012-05-21T08:10:16-07:00May 21st, 2012|Preparedness|

Our Department plays a significant role in the response for major wildland fires… and we’re monitoring the current fires closely to make sure that we cover our bases.  Our initial roles mostly include environmental health functions, especially surrounding health risks from smoke, sanitary conditions and food safety in shelters and ensuring that all of our licensed [...]

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Implementing Our Strategic Plan- Prioritize and Address Public Health Risks

By |2012-04-26T12:46:04-07:00April 26th, 2012|Prevention|

Our team from Environmental Health was in the Dewey-Humboldt area at their elementary school gym providing free blood lead tests for area kids.  There's been some community concerns about possible lead poisoning in children because of the nearby Iron King Mine and a smelter that once operated in the area.   Lead poisoning in AZ (we have about 300 cases [...]

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ADHS Receives Award to Participate in National Quality Improvement Demonstration Initiative

By |2012-03-15T08:33:44-07:00March 15th, 2012|General|

We just received a new grant award from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Quality Improvement Demonstration Initiative!  Arizona was only one of only 5 states with a successful application.  This is great for Arizona for a number of reasons.   First, it’ll help prepare [...]

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Arizona’s Food Safety Network

By |2017-02-10T09:51:31-07:00October 11th, 2011|General, Prevention|

The Listeria monocytogenes outbreak has captured the public’s attention these days- so I thought I’d do a piece on Arizona’s food safety network. Let’s start at the farm & ranch.  The Arizona Department of Agriculture is responsible for ensuring that the base of the food safety pyramid is solid in Arizona.  They have several divisions that are [...]

Cottage Industry Foods Taking Off

By |2017-02-10T09:51:31-07:00October 7th, 2011|General|

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our new Home Baked and Confectionary Goods Program. Since then, the program has really taken off.  About 700 people have registered with the program since we turned the key a few weeks ago, baking a variety of snacks, ranging from cookies and cupcakes to healthy goodies.  Bakers who [...]

Wallow Wildfire

By |2011-06-03T17:21:24-07:00June 3rd, 2011|Preparedness|

The Wallow Fire is burning a few miles SW of Alpine.  It was still pretty small yesterday (about 6,000 acres) but exploded overnight to more than 100,000 acres today.  The fire spread to the northeast toward Alpine today and the  incident management team issued an evacuation order for Alpine a few minutes ago, requiring folks to leave [...]

All Systems Go for Friday

By |2017-02-10T09:52:01-07:00December 10th, 2010|General|

Our preparation for the implementation of the AZ Medical Marijuana Act is on track.  We've made a great deal of progress on all fronts over the last couple of weeks.  The informal draft of the Administrative Code that we'll release next Friday is really starting to gel.  We've got the key elements hammered out and our [...]

Annual Statewide Environmental Health Annual Report Published

By |2010-11-03T13:17:55-07:00November 3rd, 2010|Preparedness|

I started my career in public health working as a county Sanitarian doing inspections of restaurants, motels and the like in the mid- 1980s.  My area was right around here down toward South Mountain  and I inspected the cafeteria in the basement of the Executive Tower and the cafeteria that used to be on the [...]

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Healthy Schools

By |2010-09-03T09:24:51-07:00September 3rd, 2010|General|

I thought I’d do a piece on school environmental health now that school’s back in session.  About 1 million Arizona kids and 100,000 adults spend a big chunk of their day in Arizona’s public, private and charter schools.  Because schools can often be crowded environments, it’s important operate them in a way that maximizes a [...]

AZ Wildland Fire Season Peaking

By |2010-06-14T10:09:16-07:00June 14th, 2010|Prevention|

After a much wetter than usual winter in the Southwest, spring winds blew away most of the surface moisture and increased fire dangers. Until the monsoon arrives (probably sometime in early July), we’ll be in the peak season for wildland fires in Arizona.  Our Department plays a significant role in the response for major wildland [...]

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