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.
Hunter New England Population Health, New South Wales. kirsty.hope@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Kirsty
K
Hope
Tony
T
Merritt
Keith
K
Eastwood
Kelly
K
Main
David N
DN
Durrheim
David
D
Muscatello
Kerry
K
Todd
Wei
W
Zheng
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