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. [...]
