The public health value of emergency department syndromic surveillance following a natural disaster.
During a recent natural disaster public health staff required timely and comprehensive surveillance of priority health conditions, including injury, mental health disorders and selected infectious diseases, to inform response and recovery activities. Although traditional surveillance is of value in such settings it is constrained by a focus on notifiable conditions and delays in reporting. The application of an electronic emergency department syndromic surveillance system proved valuable and timely in informing public health activities following a natural disaster in New South Wales.
Hope
Kirsty
K
Hunter New England Population Health, New South Wales. kirsty.hope@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Merritt
Tony
T
Eastwood
Keith
K
Main
Kelly
K
Durrheim
David N
DN
Muscatello
David
D
Todd
Kerry
K
Zheng
Wei
W
D003628:Database Management Systems; D004190:Disasters; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D013577:Syndrome