Since 2002, the CDC public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement has provided funding to health departments in Arizona for the advancement of our capacity to respond to a range of public health threats. The PHEP annual funds support staff on the ground in state, county, and tribal communities who assist with preparedness and response capability development.

Arizona’s top PHEP capability investments include: Public Health Laboratory Testing, Public Health Surveillance & Epidemiologic Investigation, Medical Material Management and Distribution, Medical Countermeasure Dispensing, and Community Preparedness. CDC recently published the 2017 Annual Snapshot of Public Health Preparedness listing the work of Arizona in improving emergency preparedness. The report highlights our state’s readiness to address key preparedness capabilities.

To improve public health emergency preparedness, in 2015 Arizona leveraged PHEP funds to ensure public health staff with incident management roles report for immediate duty within 16 minutes. We have built capability to more rapidly share information between partners about available resources, such as hospital beds, which can save lives and money when every second matters. Our public health laboratory proficiency tests passed with flying colors and we are greater equipped to rapidly identify exposures to toxic chemicals, assist diagnosis, and minimize further human exposure than ever before.

These improvements in preparedness demonstrate our ability to rapidly identify and notify CDC of potential biological health threats to minimize disease outbreaks. Our Public Health Preparedness Division works with the PHEP grant and all of our partners and stakeholders throughout Arizona building readiness capabilities to support our mission of Health and Wellness for all Arizonans.

You can learn more about the PHEP Program online, including a complete list of all 15 public health preparedness capabilities standards.