Los Angeles County’s (LAC) early event detection system captures over 60% of total ED visits, as well as 800 to 1,000 emergency dispatch calls from Los Angeles City Fire (LACF) daily. Both ED visits and EDC calls are classified into syndrome categories, and then analyzed for aberrations in count and spatial distribution. During periods of high temperatures, a heat report is generated and sent to stakeholders upon request. We describe how syndromic surveillance serves as an important near real-time, population-based instrument for measuring the impact of heat waves on emergency service utilization in LAC.
Objective:
To assess current indicators for situational awareness during heat waves derived from electronic emergency department (ED) and 911 emergency dispatch call (EDC) center data.