Emergency health surveillance after severe flooding in Louisiana, 1995.
BACKGROUND
In disaster situations, timely surveillance systems that provide illness, injury, and mortality information to public health officials and hospitals are essential for planning and evaluating interventions.


OBJECTIVE
To describe flood surveillance methodology, the impact of the event on hospitals, and the number of daily patient visits due to selected illnesses and injuries before, during, and after severe flooding in southeastern Louisiana in May 1995.


METHODS
Survey of disaster-area hospitals regarding flood impact. Emergency department surveillance of injuries and illnesses for the week before, the two days during, and the week after the flood.


RESULTS
There occurred an increase in the number of persons who drowned or were injured that presented to the moderately affected hospitals during the storm, but there was no increase in visits for gastroenteritis to any group of hospitals. Services were disrupted in more than half of hospitals. The severely affected hospitals had the least variation in the average number of daily visits. None of the drownings were reported by those hospitals that reported severe service disruption.


CONCLUSIONS
Data should be collected from all hospitals in or near disaster areas, even if they were not directly affected by the disaster. Public education about the danger of drowning during flash flooding must be improved. The Louisiana experience emphasizes the need for a disaster-preparedness plan for rapid surveillance of illnesses and injuries.
Ogden
C L
CL
National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, Division of Health Examination Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 900, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA.
Gibbs-Scharf
L I
LI
Kohn
M A
MA
Malilay
J
J
D004190:Disasters; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*