Alabama

In 2018, Alabama used PHEP funding and PHEP-supported staff to hold four workshops with partners on how to stop communicable diseases from entering the state. Participants included representatives from airport emergency medical services, cruise lines, and customs and border protection. At the workshops, participants developed a comprehensive response plan for identifying and mitigating potential travel-associated outbreaks. In an outbreak scenario, having trained, coordinated staff across agencies will reduce the threat of communicable diseases entering Alabama.

A PHEP-funded epidemiologist in Alabama investigated an increase in severe adverse reactions to synthetic cannabinoids using the state’s existing emergency medical services data collection system. She tracked reports of these adverse reactions, which included difficulty breathing, elevated blood pressure, and seizures. Her investigation identified nearly six times more calls for synthetic cannabinoid exposure in April and May than in the previous three months. Because of this tracking method, the state could alert providers to consider synthetic cannabinoid exposure as a diagnosis, and provide health information to the public. The number of emergency calls returned to pre-event levels by June.