PHOENIX — Messaging around water safety is strategic. It is based on trends and what's happening just before the water emergency.
That information is compiled into an annual report from the Arizona Department of Health Services, but we found it hasn't been updated in two years.
"We need the data so that we can address the trends and provide that information to the public," said Lori Stauffer from the Arizona Drowning Prevention Coalition.
Stauffer says previously that information was compiled from three places: hospital discharge records, death certificates and firefighters on scene.
"The information that AZDHS was pulling from before was a lot from the fire departments, but they found that can be a little bit sporadic. The thing that the Drowning Prevention Coalition likes about that firefighter data is it gives us a more clear picture of what happened on scene. Were they in street clothes or a swimsuit? What was the barrier in place? If there was, what was the caregiver doing in those scenarios, and that really doesn't come from the hospital data," explained Stauffer.
Instead of firefighter data, the state health department now only uses data from hospital discharge records. The person who previously produced these reports for AZDHS retired in May of 2022.
We asked the department several times if they hired someone for that position, but they would not say. The position of Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services is open, too. That position is nominated by the governor.
We reached out to Governor Katie Hobb's office to see if they had any plans to address the vacancy. They also did not give us an answer by our deadline.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Health Services told us there are 'no plans to produce' the in-depth report on drownings. It's a concern for drowning prevention experts.
"Throughout the years we have as a coalition wondered what would happen if AZDHS no longer put the report together for us, and we know that it is important to draw that line for us. And we would have to hire an epidemiologist to take a look at that ourselves, and we know that we would be willing to do that and call in fundraising. Whatever we needed to in order to get that report, because it does make a difference in our community to have the data so that we can help save lives," said Stauffer.
In the final drowning report, it's noted: this report was not only essential but should be expanded in the future.
State epidemiologists even advise they would like to have the resources for a longer assessment of what happens to the whole family unit after a water emergency, everything from the functional outcome of the patient to the educational success of a surviving sibling.
They wanted this because they have no record of that being done anywhere. But now, the whole report is in limbo.
