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 [...]
ADHS is joining groups across the nation in marking EMS Week, which honors the Emergency Medical Services providers who are rising to the challenge during the month of May. It’s part of National Trauma Awareness Month. Governor Doug Ducey signed a State Proclamation recognizing EMS Week and EMS for Children Day. This year’s theme for [...]
We recently launched an interactive dashboard that is providing timely data about the opioid epidemic in Arizona. The dashboard is a tool that ADHS and our partners are using to develop interventions that will keep our communities safe. The data is a valuable resource to help identify trends. For example, the data from a new [...]
Our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System has been awarded $3.1 million by the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for development of a comprehensive first responder opioid/naloxone program in partnership with the University of Arizona and the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board. Naloxone is a medication [...]
Recent events such as Hurricane Harvey have illustrated the importance of information sharing during a disaster response. Communication and coordination between first responders, health care facilities, emergency management, public health, and other responders is critical to protecting the health and well-being of disaster victims. After action reports and lessons learned from previous responses almost always [...]
This week we posted our first 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. Between June 15 and June 22, 191 suspected opioid overdoses, 15 of them fatal, were reported to ADHS [...]
Your AZ Public Health Laboratory was recognized this month at the CDC Laboratory Response Network National meeting for Innovative Collaborations with AZ's first responders. We were lauded for our unique approaches to training hazmat technicians on the use of handheld analytical instruments for testing chemical and biological agents in the field and demonstrating testing capabilities available at the public health lab. [...]
