Kansas storms can occur without warning and have potential to cause a multitude of health issues. Extreme weather preparedness and event monitoring for public health effects is being developed as a function of syndromic surveillance at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The Syndromic Surveillance Program at KDHE utilized emergency department (ED) data to detect direct health effects of the weather events in the first 9 months of 2016. Current results show injuries directly related to the storms and also some unexpected health effects that warrant further exploration.
Objective
To evaluate syndrome definitions capturing storm- and extreme weather-related emergency department visits in Kansas hospitals participating in the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP).