Preparedness – Page 47 – AZ Dept. of Health Services Director's Blog

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.

Contagion

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:35-07:00 September 9th, 2011|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

In all my years in public health this is the first crack I’ve taken at being a movie critic- so give me a little slack on this one. I checked out the new movie called Contagion- and really liked it. I won’t give up too much information and spoil the film, but it’s basically a fictional [...]

Holiday weekends call for extra care when driving

By azdhs-admin| 2011-09-02T08:52:35-07:00 September 2nd, 2011|Preparedness, Prevention|

Over the last decade the Labor Day weekend has become one of the most dangerous weekends for car crashes (along with 4th of July and Thanksgiving weekends)… so this weekend is a great time to think road safety. Arizona has decreased the death rate from car, truck and motorcycle crashes by almost 50% in the last 5 years- [...]

Scorpions!

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:37-07:00 August 10th, 2011|Licensing, Preparedness|

Here in the Sonoran Desert monsoon season = scorpion season. There are more than 56 species of scorpions in Arizona- but only one- the bark scorpion is of any public health significance. The problem is that it’s the most common scorpion found in Arizona homes. Since you live in the bark scorpion's territory, you probably have them around [...]

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Another Tool for our Laboratory Toolbox

By azdhs-admin| 2011-08-09T09:30:01-07:00 August 9th, 2011|Preparedness|

New testing equipment at the state lab is going to help us with flu tracking this fall and dramatically speed up testing for Tuberculosis. The instrument called the Gene Xpert looks for DNA mutations – we can tell if a TB case is resistant to certain antibiotics. For instance, on specific mutation is a marker for rifampin [...]

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Tattoo You?

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:37-07:00 August 2nd, 2011|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

Regardless of what you think about tattooing and body piercing- it’s clearly popular. Tattooing and body piercing are obviously invasive- which brings up the question: do these (now common) practices pose a health threat? Are they safe? The answer is simple. Like just about everything else in life- it can be safe as long as [...]

Welcome Our New Teammates

By azdhs-admin| 2011-08-01T08:45:22-07:00 August 1st, 2011|General, Preparedness|

Please join me in welcoming three folks from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission to the ADHS team today. The Legislature and Governor made a statutory change last cycle that moved the Commission to us, and their mission is a good fit. The Commission basically awards contracts for projects researching the causes, epidemiology and diagnosis, formulation [...]

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Cottage Industry Foods Rulemaking

By azdhs-admin| 2011-07-29T16:13:14-07:00 July 29th, 2011|Licensing, Preparedness, Prevention|

We were excited to roll out the new cottage industry food law last week because it provides new fundraising and self-employment for folks. Our brand-new cottage industry food website lays out some of the information folks will need to turn the key- including sample recipe’s and labels, ingredient templates, and how to get a food handler [...]

EMS Service Contract Guidance

By azdhs-admin| 2012-11-16T10:42:42-07:00 July 28th, 2011|Licensing, Preparedness|

Our Emergency Medical Services team created a new guidance document last week to inform interested parties about the criteria we use when reviewing contracts between EMS providers and local jurisdictions. The document provides an overview of our goals relating to political subdivision contracts; our statutory and regulatory authority related to political subdivision contracts; the process and methods used by the Department for [...]

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Border Health Partnerships

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:41-07:00 July 12th, 2011|General, Licensing, Preparedness, Prevention|

A few weeks ago I blogged about the June plenary session of the Arizona Mexico Commission called Arizona & Sonora: Gateway for Innovation. The conference provided an opportunity to move forward a bi-national agenda supported by Arizona and Sonora. The health committee discussed regional approaches to valley fever surveillance, burn patient infrastructure, substance abuse, TB, border [...]

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Exceptional Dust Storm

By azdhs-admin| 2011-07-08T08:29:33-07:00 July 8th, 2011|Preparedness|

This week's giant dust storm (technically called a haboob) blew through the valley leaving dust hovering in the air for days. The ADEQ said one Phoenix testing station recorded an astronomical reading of over 6,000 micrograms per cubic meter (of PM 10) on Tuesday evening (the federal EPA standard is 150 averaged over a day). PM 10 is a measurement [...]

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ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Health and Wellness for All Arizonans

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Health and Wellness for All Arizonans

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