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Fagliano Jerald

Description

The NJ syndromic surveillance system, EpiCenter, developed an algorithm to quantify HRI visits using chief complaint data. While heat advisories are released by the National Weather Service, an effective HRI algorithm could provide real-time health impact information that could be used to provide supplemental warnings to the public during a prolonged heat wave.

Objective:

The purpose of this evaluation is to characterize the relationship between a patient’s initial hospital emergency room chief complaint potentially related to a heat-related illness (HRI) with final primary and secondary ICD-9 diagnoses.

 

Submitted by Magou on
Description

Real-time emergency department (ED) data are currently received from 78 of 80 New Jersey acute care and satellite EDs by Health Monitoring Systems Inc.’s (HMS) EpiCenter system. EpiCenter collects, manages and analyzes ED registration data for syndromic surveillance, and provides alerts to state and local health departments for surveillance anomalies. After the 2012 Superstorm Sandy devastated parts of New Jersey, NJDOH initiated a plan to develop severe weather surveillance using EpiCenter to provide the Department with the ability to track both health and mental health concerns during adverse weather conditions to alert the public about emerging health hazards.

Objective

To describe the development and validation of a mental health classification to track emergency department visits for potential needed public health response during severe weather events.

Submitted by teresa.hamby@d… on
Description

Hurricane ‘Superstorm’ Sandy struck New Jersey on October 29, 2012, causing harm to the health of New Jersey residents and billions of dollars of damage to businesses, transportation, and infrastructure. Monitoring health outcomes for increased illness and injury due to a severe weather event is important in measuring the severity of conditions and the efficacy of state response, as well as in emergency response preparations for future severe weather events. Following the experience with Hurricane Sandy and the foreseeable need to be prepared for future severe weather events, NJDOH initiated a project to develop a suite of 20 indicators in EpiCenter, an online system which collects emergency department chief complaint data in realtime, to perform syndromic surveillance of extreme weather–related conditions.

Objective

To introduce and describe methods for evaluating and refining custom classifier keyword lists for syndromic surveillance of several post-severe weather event conditions and to report findings from New Jersey’s syndromic surveillance of selected conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

 

Submitted by Magou on

Following Hurricane Superstorm Sandy, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) developed indicators to enhance syndromic surveillance for extreme weather events in EpiCenter, an online system that collects and analyzes real-time chief complaint emergency department (ED) data and classifies each visit by indicator or syndrome.

Submitted by uysz on