Description
On August 15, 2018, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) became aware of a cluster of suspected overdoses in an urban park related to the synthetic cannabinoid K2. Abuse of K2 has been associated with serious adverse effects and overdose clusters have been reported in multiple states. This investigation aimed to characterize the use of syndromic surveillance data to monitor a cluster of suspected overdoses in real time.
Objective: To describe the use of syndromic surveillance data for real-time situational awareness of emergency department utilization during a localized mass overdose event related to the substance K2.