Arizona Extreme Weather and Public Health Workshop Summary Report

In June 2016, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) with researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) convened a one-day workshop of public health professionals and experts from Arizona’s county and state agencies to advance statewide preparedness for extreme weather events and climate change. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sponsors the Climate-Ready Cities and States Initiative, which aims to help communities across the country prepare for and prevent projected disease burden associated with climate change. Arizona is one of 18 public health jurisdictions funded under this initiative. ADHS is deploying the CDC’s five-step Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework to assist counties and local public health partners with becoming better prepared to face challenges associated with the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Workshop participants engaged in facilitated exercises designed to rigorously consider social vulnerability to hazards in Arizona and to prioritize intervention activities for extreme heat, wildfire, air pollution, and flooding.

This report summarizes the proceedings of the workshop focusing primarily on two sessions: the first related to social vulnerability mapping and the second related to the identification and prioritization of interventions necessary to address the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards.