@article{ref1,
title="Evaluation of emergency department-based surveillance systems at 2 healthcare facilities after Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico, 2017-2018",
journal="Disaster medicine and public health preparedness",
year="2019",
author="Adams, Laura E. and Vargas, Luzeida and Frasqueri-Quintana, Verónica M. and Torres-Figueroa, Xiomara and Ryff, Kyle and Sánchez-González, Liliana and Little, Emma and Ciampaglio, Kaitlyn and Reyes Claudio, Julio M. and Ponton-Cruz, Elyonel and Santiago, William and Paz-Bailey, Gabriela and Alvarado, Luisa I.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage in Puerto Rico, increasing the risk for morbidity and mortality in the post-impact period. We aimed to establish a syndromic surveillance system to describe the number and type of visits at 2 emergency health-care settings in the same hospital system in Ponce, Puerto Rico. <br><br>METHODS: We implemented a hurricane surveillance system by interviewing patients with a short questionnaire about the reason for visit at a hospital emergency department and associated urgent care clinic in the 6 mo after Hurricane Maria. We then evaluated the system by comparing findings with data from the electronic medical record (EMR) system for the same time period. <br><br>RESULTS: The hurricane surveillance system captured information from 5116 participants across the 2 sites, representing 17% of all visits captured in the EMR for the same period. Most visits were associated with acute illness/symptoms (79%), followed by injury (11%). The hurricane surveillance and EMR data were similar, proportionally, by sex, age, and visit category. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The hurricane surveillance system provided timely and representative data about the number and type of visits at 2 sites. This system, or an adapted version using available electronic data, should be considered in future disaster settings.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1935-7893",
doi="10.1017/dmp.2019.79",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2019.79"
}