SAFER COVID-19 Response
As the numbers of reported cases continue to climb, state and county public health departments are responsible for conducting all case investigations for confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, and the University of Arizona has jumped in to help. Kristen Pogreba-Brown, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, leads the SAFER team. The SAFER program not only supports county and state agencies in the fight against disease, it also provides vital training for students who will become the public health leaders of the future.
- Learn more about how we transitioned our call center to a "virtual" call center in close collaboration with Information Technology experts at the University of Arizona
- Learn how SAFER students volunteered to support a COVID-19 phone hotline for the State of Arizona
- Learn about how SAFER students are working with the Pima County Health Department to investigate cases of CoVID-19
- SAFER has been assisting at the state vaccine point of dispensing! Learn more about our student's efforts on KOLD 13 News
- The SAFER program has been supporting the efforts of the Arizona CoVHORT research study open to all Arizona residents
SAFER Team at the state vaccine point of dispensing on the UArizona mall
SAFER staff and students help assemble research study thank you packets for participants
About SAFER
The Student Aid for Field Epidemiology Response (SAFER) team was created at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health to provide additional opportunities for students to apply what they were learning in a practical setting. SAFER was developed to provide health departments with a team of trained and experienced students who could respond to a health departments needs, e.g. during an outbreak or emergency response. SAFER currently conducts routine surveillance of enteric disease for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health but has helped on numerous outbreaks, special events surveillance, and routine surveillance activities during staff hour shortages.
SAFER Students in the Applied Public Health Research and Surveillance Laboratory
SAFER Students Conducting Public Health Surveillance at Super Bowl XLIX
SAFER Class Activities
- Table-top outbreak exercises (in-class outbreaks, Inter-professional Pandemic Influenza exercise)
- Experiential learning outbreak exercise (see related paper below)
- Fieldwork experience (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever surveillance in AZ, flu surveillance)
- Interviewing skills development in the Applied Public Health Research and Surveillance Laboratory
- Participant recruitment and interviews for public health research
- Guest speakers from local health departments
- Training from local and state health departments
Guest Speaker from Environmental Services
SAFER-Related Papers
Pogreba-Brown K, Harris RB, Stewart J, Anderson S, Erhart LM, England B. Outbreak Investigation Partnerships: Utilizing a Student Response Team in Public Health Responses. Public Health Reports. 2010 Nov-Dec;125(6):916-22.
Barrett E, Barnes S, Pogreba-Brown K. An Experiential Learning Exercise in food-borne illness outbreak investigations: bridging education and experience. Pedagogy in Health Promotion. DOI:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23733799177004400
RESOURCES FOR EXERCISE