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Disaster Surveillance

Wildfires are an integral part of many ecosystems; however, in recent years, human behavior and climate change have resulted in wildfire seasons that are longer, more destructive, and more costly. During wildfire events, public health responses most often focus on the health effects of wildfire smoke-related air pollution (i.e., exposure to fine particulate matter [PM2.5]), including exacerbations of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Submitted by syndromic@cste.org on

Why the syndrome was created:

The purpose of CDC Medication Refill v1 is to monitor visits for any medication/prescription that a patient may have run out of. Anything repetitive that needs routine refill visits - dialysis, oxygen, heart, BP, cholesterol.

Submitted by hmccall on

On September 10, 2017, Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane and subsequently tracked up the west side of the state. Due to the size of the storm, it impacted nearly all of Florida. The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE-FL), the state’s syndromic surveillance system, captures 98% of the emergency department (ED) visits statewide and has historically served a vital function in providing near real-time ED data that are used to track post-disaster morbidity and mortality. After previous hurricanes and tropical storms, increases in carbon monoxide poisonings, animal bites, and injuries have been documented. During post-Irma surveillance, an additional increase in seizure-related ED visits was observed.

Objective: Using Florida's syndromic surveillance data, to describe the increase in seizure activity in the days after Hurricane Irma made landfall in 2017

Submitted by elamb on

The CDC's BioSense Program receives near real-time health care utilization data from a number of sources, including Department of Defense (DoD) healthcare facilities from around the globe and non-federal hospital emergency departments (EDs) in the US, to support all-hazards surveillance and situation awareness. Following the tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, the BioSense Program modified its surveillance protocols to monitor: 1) injuries and possible radiation-associated health effects in Japan-based DoD facilities and 2) potential adverse health effects associated with the consumption of potassium iodide (KI), a salt used to prevent injury to the thyroid gland in the event of radiation exposure, among persons attending participating EDs in the US. We present the findings from that enhanced surveillance.

Objective

To demonstrate the utility of the BioSense Program for post-disaster response surveillance.

Referenced File
Submitted by elamb on

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017, resulting in 88 fatalities and more than $125 billion in damages to infrastructure. In Houston, flooding created a toxic mix of chemicals, sewage, biohazards, and 8 million cubic yards of garbage. The level of biohazard exposure, as well as injuries from trauma among persons residing in affected areas, was widespread and likely contributed to increases in emergency department (ED) visits in Houston and cities that received persons evacuating from the hurricane.

Submitted by elamb on

The October 2010 eruption of Mt Merapi (the most active volcano in the Indonesia that erupts at 5-years intervals) claimed 141 lives, injured 453 people and displaced at least 278,000 people. This geological event became a disaster as national and international agencies had to step in to assist the Yogyakarta Province and Sleman District Administrations in dealing with the devastation caused by the pyroclastic flows. Because of its cyclic nature the task of the local governments is to improve the hazard mitigation system and to increase the resiliency of the population. On 22 July 2013 the Volcano spewed ash clouds and people of two villages of the Cangkringan Sub-District evacuated themselves to the local village halls. The hazards posed by the ash clouds of the volcano, and by the displacement of vulnerable populations, did cause certain physical and emotional sufferings, but could be controlled by the local administration.

Objective

To examine whether the danger zone District Health Office (DHO) and sub-district Health Centers (HCs) were employing an inter-disaster PH S-R System after the October 2010 Mt Merapi eruption and a pre-disaster PH S-R System during the July 2013 Mt Merapi eruption.

Submitted by knowledge_repo… on

The objective of this project was to classify and extract mental health emergency department (ED) visits from the Houston Real-time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) system. In addition, this project will offer a

Referenced File
Submitted by elamb on

Surveillance strategies following major natural disasters have varied widely with respect to methods used to collect and analyze data. Following Hurricane Katrina, public health concerns included infectious disease outbreaks, injuries, mental health and exacerbation of preexisting chronic conditions resulting from unprecedented population displacement and disruption of public health services and health-care infrastructure.

 

Objective

This paper describes the public health surveillance response to hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and surrounding Parishes; particularly illustrating the methods, results, and lessons learned for implementing passive, active and electronic syndromic surveillance systems during a major disaster.

Referenced File
Submitted by elamb on
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