Arizona State Public Health LaboratoryYour 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. This is critical not just for ensuring field tests detect true hazards and are used under the right circumstances…  but also to prevent unnecessary responses from “false positives” that can happen using field tests.

A robust partnership between our Lab and AZ’s FirstResponder Community is a critical component to public health preparedness… and our Lab leads the nation in this important area of collaboration. Congrats Laboratorians!