WATCH OWCH

OFFICE OF WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH
JANUARY 2005

National Women’s Health Database Now Available

Contact Information
Arizona Department of Health
Services (ADHS)
Office of Women’s and
Children’s Health (OWCH)
150 N. 18th Ave. Suite 320
Phoenix, AZ 85007-3242
(602) 364-1400
www.azdhs.gov/phs/owch

The Office on Women's Health (OWH) in
the US Department of Health and Human Services and the National Women's
Health Information Center (NWHIC) are
proud to announce the launch of their
new and comprehensive National
Women's Health Indicators Database.
This is a FREE online tool, which can be
accessed at www.4woman.gov/statedata
or through the NWHIC site at
www.4woman.gov.
NWHID contains extensive health data
from the year 2000 for the entire United
States, and some data from additional
years. This database will be updated on
an annual basis in order to keep up with

current trends and health facts, and has
been developed as a free tool for your
use. This new online resource can benefit anyone looking for current and reliable health statistics such as health professionals, researchers, members of the
press, and consumers. National, regional, state, and county data are available, and can be stratified concurrently
by gender, race/ethnicity, and age.
This database includes statistics on:
demographics, mortality, access to care,
infections and chronic disease, reproductive health, maternal health, mental
health, prevention, and violence and
abuse.

Inside this issue:
Women's Health Site 1
Rape Prevention 1
Domestic Violence 2
Child Care Health 3
HRPP 3
Child Fatality 4
Recall Information 5
OWCH New Programs 6
New Employees 6

Rape Prevention and Education
The Office of Women's and Children's
Health Rape Prevention and Education
Program won a first place Health
Education Media Makers Yearly
(HEMMY) Award from the Arizona
Public Health Association for its first
Public Services Announcement on Rape
Prevention and Education. The announcement has been running statewide
since June 2004. The Rape Prevention
and Education message is about date
rape and the importance of consent.
For more information on Rape Prevention
and Education services in your area, call
Carol Hensell, Rape Prevention and Education Program Manager,
at (602) 542-7343.

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WATCH OWCH

JANUARY 2005

BE AWARE to BE SAFE
Did you know that one in three
women in our country has been or
is currently a victim of domestic
violence? According to some
sources half of all women will be
victims of domestic violence at
some time in their lives.
Domestic violence is about power
and control. Domestic violence is
NEVER the victim's fault! Use of
violence in an intimate relationship is always a choice.
Domestic violence is a pattern of
coercive, controlling behaviors.
Abusive people attempt to have
power over and control of another
person. Domestic violence is not
just hitting, slapping, or killing.
It can also be verbal, sexual,
financial, spiritual, and psychological. Victims are often isolated
by their abusive partners, and not
allowed to visit with friends,
family, or neighbors.
Women who leave their abusive
partners are often in more danger
than if they had stayed in the
abusive relationship. Seventy-five
percent of the women who have

died in a violent relationship had
already left their abusive partner.
Most victims of domestic violence
are women, although men can
also be victims. Domestic violence
occurs in all segments of society.
Victims may be the person who
delivers our newspaper in the
morning, the pastor of our church,
our political leader, our mother or
daughter, or the woman next
door.
If you or someone you know are a
victim of domestic violence, please
call your local domestic violence
shelter for help. You can call the
Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence (AzCADV) for help
locating the shelter nearest you at
(602) 279-2900, (800) 782-6400,
and (800) 787-3224 (TDD). You
can also call the National 24-hour
hotline at (800) 799-7233 and
(800) 787-3224 (TDD). The Arizona Coalition Against Domestic
Violence is also available if you
just desire to talk with someone,
or are looking for more information about domestic violence.

For more information about domestic violence
check out these sites:
http://endabuse.org www.ncadv.org www.nwnetwork.org www.elderabusecenter.org www.cpsdv.org -

information about health, domestic
violence, and battered immigrant issues.
link page to many national web sites
and resources.
for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender population.
elder abuse issues.
sexual assault and domestic violence; also
has a focus on the religious response to
domestic violence.

The Office of Women’s and
Children’s Health Domestic
Violence Services – the Rural
Safe Home Network.
The Arizona Department of
Health Services (ADHS) receives
federal funds from the Family
Violence Prevention and Services
Act for the prevention of domestic
violence and services to victims.
These funds are used primarily to
provide services to the rural areas
of the state utilizing Rural Safe
Home Networks.
The Rural Safe Home Network
programs in Arizona can be described as an alliance of local
businesses, agencies and individuals in our communities who have
come together to break the cycle of
abuse. The larger state network,
the Rural Safe Home Network, is
composed of nine domestic violence service providers. It is a
program for the prevention of
family violence, and is committed
to bringing the latest information
and methods to break the cycle of
violence and abuse in our communities.
Currently, the ADHS funds five
safe homes and the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
In addition, funds are provided for
legal advocacy for victims and
counseling services for children
living in families experiencing
domestic violence.
For more information about the
Rural Safe Home Network in
Arizona, please contact JAnn
Pope, Program Manager, at
(602) 542-7341.

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WATCH OWCH

JANUARY 2005

CHILD CARE TRAINING
Child Care Health Consultation Class Graduates
On November 18, 2004, nine individuals from across the state were
honored at an informal graduation ceremony for Arizona's second class of trained child care
health consultants.

This training was funded as part
of an intergovernmental agreement between Arizona Department of Health Services Office of
Women's and Children's Health,
and the Pima County
Health Department.

The graduating class
included five regisThirty-eight states have
tered nurses, includprepared child care
ing public health
health consultants utilnurses from three
izing the curriculum of
different counties
the National Training
and two school
Institute for Child Care
nurses who have preHealth Consultants
schools on their cam(NTICCHC) developed
puses; a physician; a
by the University of
To provide the best
health educator; a
North Carolina's School
quality care for every
University of Arizona
of Public Health. The
child, caregivers need to
Cooperative Extenfacilitators for this
have access to reliable
sion Youth and Famtraining course were
consultation on
ily agent; and an
Kathi Ford, RN, BC and
available issues related
early childhood spePatty Merk, MS, both
to health and safety.
cialist.
graduates of the National Training Institute's TrainThe ceremony was hosted by the
ing of Trainers for Child Care
Governor's Office for Children,
Health Consultants. Ford has
Youth and Families. Lisa Glow
been a public health nurse and
brought congratulations from the
child care health Consultant for
governor to the graduates.
17 years and Merk has been on

the faculty of University of Arizona Cooperative Extension for 13
years.
Most child care providers are not
trained health professionals, yet
they frequently deal with child
health issues involving physical
and mental health in areas like
nutrition, physical safety, oral
health and hygiene, and developmental disabilities. To provide
the best quality care for every
child, caregivers need to have access to reliable consultation on
available issues related to health
and safety. This is the role of the
child care health consultant.
In addition to providing consultation services to child care settings,
the graduates will be encouraged
to participate in the planning and
development of a statewide child
care health consultation system
being shaped through the activities of the State School Readiness
Board.

CHILDREN HEALTH UPDATES
High-Risk Perinatal Program / Newborn Intensive Care Program
Advisory Group Recommendations Update
The High Risk Perinatal Program
(HRPP)/Newborn Intensive Care
Program (NICP) maintains a
system of care to assure that risk
appropriate care is available and
accessible to high-risk pregnant
women and critically ill newborns
in Arizona regardless of location
or ability to pay. The Program
provides maternal and neonatal
transport services, hospital and
inpatient physician services, and
community nursing services.

Last year, an advisory group composed of leaders in the perinatal
community was formed to evaluate HRPP/NICP in relationship to
the Arizona perinatal system and
identify ways to restructure the
program to make it more cost effective and better able to support
the needs of the system. Three
focus areas and goals were identified: follow-up care, advocacy and
funding, and systems-based infrastructure. Subcommittees for
each of these focus areas met

separately to discuss aspects of
the perinatal system and make
recommendations for change.
Recommendations made by the
HRPP/NICP Advisory Group have
served as the basis for identifying
program priorities and assigning
resources. Please go to:
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/owch/
pdf/recommendation.pdf
for a brief overview of some recommendations and the progress made
to date in addressing them.

PAGE 4

WATCH OWCH

JANUARY 2005

C H I L D F A T A L I T Y NEWS
Child Fatality Review Program Releases 11th Annual Report
On November 15th, the Office of
Women's and Children's Health
released the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program Eleventh
Annual Report. The Child Fatality Review Team is headed by
Dr. Mary Rimsza of the Arizona
Chapter of the American Academy
of Pediatrics and Arizona State
University's School of Health
Management and Policy.
Through the Child Fatality Review Program, local teams from
across the state review deaths to
determine which deaths could
reasonably have been prevented.
The report is based on extensive
reviews of 937 deaths of children
under age 18 in 2003 and includes
recommendations for elected officials, other policy makers, and the
Arizona public.
Overall, the report concluded the
deaths of 240 Arizona children, or
26 percent of all child deaths in
2003 could have been prevented
through the use of safety belts
and infant restraints, secured pool
fences, locked storage of guns, and
other preventive practices.
Motor vehicle crashes killed 105
children in 2003, and nine out of
ten of these deaths could have
been prevented. Driving under
the influence of alcohol or drugs
and the driver's youth were factors in many deaths. Only one in
five children who died as the result of riding or driving in a car or
truck were using restraints. Motor vehicles crashes have consistently been the most common
cause of preventable death for
Arizona children.

The State Child Fatality Team
recommends supporting legislation that will increase seat belt
use by children and adults, supporting legislation to increase
restrictions on teen driving, and
messages to parents to model safe
behaviors for children through
their use of seat belts, always
buckling up their children, and
placing them in the back seat of
the car, in the center, whenever
possible.
Drowning deaths continue to be a
major cause of preventable deaths
in young children, especially those
under five-years old. Twentyeight children drowned in 2003,
14 were children under age five
who died in backyard pools. The
vast majority of these deaths
could have been prevented by
better supervision of the child and
secured pool fencing.
The Child Fatality Review Team
recommends uniform, statewide
pool-fencing ordinance that restricts young children's access to
pools, and education of parents
that they should never leave children unsupervised around water.
Homicide, suicide and child maltreatment accounted for 79 of the
deaths in 2003. Violent deaths
are major public health concerns
in Arizona and are significant
categories of preventable deaths.
The number of children who died
of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, has decreased in
recent years. In 2003, there were
33 such deaths. A major reason
for the decrease is the American
Academy of Pediatrics “ Back to
Sleep” Campaign, which encourages parents to put infants to

sleep on their backs instead of on
their stomachs. Part of the decrease may also be due to increased identification of deaths
due to suffocation, which may
have previously been attributed to
SIDS.
In 2003, 19 infants died due to
suffocation. Suffocation deaths
included in this category were primarily the result of overlying during co-sleeping with adults or
positional asphyxia. There were
three deaths due to choking.
Dr. Rimsza noted that while we
have made progress in decreasing
the number of preventable deaths
in some categories such as SIDS,
there is still much work to be done
in preventing deaths due to unintentional injuries, especially motor vehicle crashes and drowning.
A copy of the full report is available at http://www.azdhs.gov/cfhs/
azcf/download.htm

PAGE 5

WATCH OWCH

JANUARY 2005

SAFETY FIRST
Website Now Provides Instantaneous Information on Recalls
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ever wonder where you can
eral government. The site also contains safety warngo to find breaking news about product recalls? Parings and information on how to report a problem with
ents, consumers, and reporters need to
a consumer product, cosmetic, molook no further than www.Recalls.gov.
tor vehicle, boat, food product or
A new feature on the Website called
environmental product. "With the
TIP: "Before purchasing or
"Recent Recalls" allows everyone to view
holiday season in full swing, we
giving any gift, particularly one are encouraged to see that many
recall announcements the very moment
they are made public by the U.S. Conparents and consumers have
intended for a child, visit the
sumer Product Safety Commission, the
logged on to www.Recalls.gov" said
site and check to make sure the
Food and Drug Administration, the NaConsumer Product Safety Commisitem does not pose a hazard."
tional Highway Traffic Safety Adminision Chairman Hal Stratton.
- Hal Stratton "Before purchasing or giving any
stration, the Environmental Protection
Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculgift, particularly one intended for a
ture, or the U.S. Coast Guard. The
child, visit the site and check to
"Recent Recalls" link is the only source on the Intermake sure the item does not pose a hazard."
net for up-to-the-minute information on all government recalls.
"By working with our federal, corporate and nonprofit partners, we hope to serve the public more effiNearly one million visitors have used Recalls.gov as a
ciently, while saving countless lives and preventing
one-stop-shop for recall announcements from the fedinjuries," Stratton added.

Just Recently...
For example, consumers can go to Recalls.gov and find information about the following recalls which were
recently announced:
•
•
•
•
•

225,000 York furnaces which pose a fire hazard.
700,000 Bowflex fitness machines which can break during use.
30,000 RMM Corp. pressure washers which can overheat and catch fire.
15,000 ready-to-eat meals by Kraft Foods Global which were mislabeled and contain a known allergen.
Dietary herbal supplements by Kingsway Trading which could pose a possible health risk.

New Email Address
As a reminder all email addresses for the Arizona
Department of Health Services end in azdhs.gov.
Our new website is www.azdhs.gov and our old email
addresses are no longer valid.

PAGE 6

WATCH OWCH

JANUARY 2005

N E W Programs at OWCH
The Office of Women's and Children's Health welcomes the Injury
Prevention Program and Emergency Services for Children and
Safe Kid program to our Office.
Eleanor Strang is the Program
Manager for the Injury Program
and Jan Kerrigan is the Program
Manager for Emergency Services
and Safe Kids.
The Injury Prevention Program in
Arizona is a systematic effort to
reduce deaths and injuries from
intentional and unintentional
causes like motor vehicle crashes,
poisoning, falls, drowning, shooting, burns, assault and self harm.

The program is funded by a grant
from the Centers for Disease Control. Its focus is on collecting and
publishing data about injuries
and working with various
individuals and organizations to develop strategies to
avoid them.
Emergency Medical Services
for Children (EMSC) is a national initiative designed to
reduce child and youth disability
due to severe illness and injury.
Medical personnel, parents and
volunteers, community groups
and businesses, and national
organizations and foundations all

contribute to the effort. A federal
grant program supports Arizona's
initiative. EMSC is an essential
component of Emergency Medical
Services or EMS systems.
Arizona Safe Kids is a
statewide program
dedicated to the
prevention of
unintentional injury for
Arizona's children under
15 years of age. Arizona
Safe Kids is a member of the
National Safe Kids Campaign.
Local Safe Kids Coalitions
throughout Arizona receive
leadership and technical Assistance from Arizona Safe Kids.

NEW EMPLOYEES
The Office of Women's and Children's Health is growing with new staff as well as new programs. The staff that
have joined us in the last six months are:

A Warm
Welcome
to...

Joan Agostinelli, Assessment and Evaluation Section Manager
Rosemary Celaya, Customer Service Representative
Ophelia Chischilly, Information Processing Specialist
Porsha Coleman, Administrative Secretary
Carolyn Cox, Information Processing Specialist
Mary Ellen Cunningham, Health Program Manager
Thomas Gustafson, Information Processing Specialist
Daryl Hansen, Administrative Secretary
Jan Kerrigan, Safe Kids/Emergency Services for Children Program Manager
Mary-Teresa Lopez, Administrative Assistant
Therese Neal, Child Fatality Program Manager
Yvonne Newman, Information Processing specialist
Ann Reece, Administrative Assistant
Lisa Schamus, Research and Statistical Analyst Chief
Susie Scott, Reproductive Health Program Manager
Ellie Strang, Injury Prevention Program Manager
Christy Taylor, Newborn Hearing Screening Specialist
Mary Lou Wilson, Information Processing Specialist
All of these staff can be reached at (602) 364-1400 and are here to help you.

The mission of the Office of Women’s and Children’s Health (OWCH) is
to strengthen the family and community by promoting and improving
the health status of women and children.
Our Vision is: Healthy Women...Healthy Children...Healthy Tomorrow
WATCH OWCH Editor: Dorothy Hastings