CDC’s Tracking Network in Action

Tracking in Action - New Mexico and Iowa

Take a look at how tracking programs across the country are making important, lasting contributions to the health of their communities.

CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) connects people with vital public health information. It has data and information that can be used for a wide variety of environmental and public health efforts. You can see how diverse the Tracking Network's applications can be by checking out two of the latest videos in the "Tracking in Action" series.

New Mexico's Wildfire Response

Wildfire season in New Mexico typically starts in May and ends in early July. Prolonged exposure to smoke is harmful to people of all ages but especially to young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with heart and/or lung disease. Wildfires can spread fast causing air quality to change quickly. This allows little time for alerting nearby residents to take measures to protect their health.

The New Mexico Tracking Program created an interactive mapping tool to help protect residents from the dangers of wildfire smoke. Now, New Mexico residents do not have to wait for official smoke alerts before making decisions about how to protect their health during wildfires. They can monitor their community and move more quickly if needed.

Iowa's Data Tool Highlights Health Problems and Saves Money

The Iowa Immunization Program needed an efficient way to give vaccine providers data on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage rates up to 4 times a year. The Iowa Public Health Tracking Program helped the Immunization Program by adapting the tracking program's cardiovascular disease and air quality data display tool. This dashboard allows users to view data in multiple ways and to create county-specific fact sheets that show the information in an easy-to-read format. With the customized dashboard, the Immunization Program could more efficiently generate fact sheets with provider-specific data on HPV vaccination coverage, reducing steps and saving a significant amount of staff time.