Development and Application of Syndromic Surveillance for Severe Weather Events Following Hurricane Sandy

The authors examined syndromic surveillance data for emergency department (ED) visits in New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and compared it to ED visit data during the same time periods the previous year to better understand the effects of the storm on the health of affected individuals. They found that “spikes in overall ED visits were observed immediately after the hurricane for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, the 3 disrupted outpatient medical care indicators, asthma, and methadone-related substance use.”