SEAL team comes to Grant County Health District

MOSES LAKE — Grant County will serve as a training ground for a pair of University of Washington graduate students, according to an announcement from the Grant County Health District.

The GCHD will partner with two UW master's in public health epidemiology students who are current members of the Student Epidemic Action Leaders Team at the UW, according to the announcement. The SEAL Team provides students with experience in applied epidemiology training and field assignments at state and local health departments. Last week, the students, identified only as Sarah and Ashley, were on-site at the GCHD office to collaborate with staff and initiate a successful launch for their respective projects.

“This is our first SEAL Team to come to Grant County and it is a wonderful opportunity for GCHD to gain deeper insights into areas of public health concerns. Our staff and community partners will be able to use the work of the SEALS to better refine and inform our programs and interventions” Theresa Adkinson, GCHD administrator, wrote in the announcement.

Sarah will work closely with GCHD’s Healthy Communities & Families division and specifically, with GCHD’s Harm Reduction Coordinator, to create a GIS heat map of non-fatal overdoses in Grant County, the announcement said. The heat map will illustrate data through various colors to highlight areas in Grant County where overdoses occur most frequently. With the use of this data, GCHD staff and community partners can plan for prevention, interventions, and services in specific areas of the county.

Ashley has joined forces with GCHD’s Communicable Disease division to complete a three-part sexually transmitted infection assessment for Grant County, according to the announcement. This assessment will focus on:

· STI antibiotic accessibility and completion rates through local pharmacies

· Local healthcare provider’s capacity to treat and test for STIs

· Analysis of GCHD’s internal STI investigation process and partner notification

“This program is a great way for us to obtain qualitative and quantitative data by doing a landscape assessment of services and needs in Grant County with the assistance from the MPH Epidemiology students, and we are grateful for their willingness to come on-site to work with us,” Laina Mitchell, GCHD’s investigation and response manager, wrote in the announcement.