Washoe County District Health Department (WCDHD) is a local health district serving nearly 400,000 residents in Washoe County including cities of Reno and Sparks, the second largest urban area in Nevada. To enhance overall public health surveillance capacities in the agency, WCDHD officially implemented National Retail Data Monitor (NRDM) in September 2004, Real-time Outbreak & Disease Surveillance (RODS) in July 2005, and FirstWatch in August 2005. These three systems monitor over-the-counter sales for medications and healthcare products, chief complaints at emergency room visits, and 911 calls, respectively. Preliminary evaluation of NRDM suggested the usefulness of system. The addition of RODS and FirstWatch also demonstrated the utility in assisting outbreak investigation during the past few months. Unfortunately no written protocols are in place to guide program staff to manage alerts in a standardized fashion and make appropriate responses. Such guidelines from federal or state level are not yet available as we are aware, however, such protocol is highly needed.
Objective
The objective of this paper is to describe the standard operation procedures for three existing syndromic surveillance systems in WCDHD, Nevada.