At a glance
Surveillance in a disaster allows us to identify risk factors, track disease trends, determine action items, and tailor interventions. It allows us to assess the human health impacts of a disaster and evaluate potential problems related to planning and prevention.
Overview
During a disaster, it is important to conduct surveillance to determine the extent and scope of health impacts on those affected. Surveillance is the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of death, injury, and illness data.
Surveillance enables public health to identify adverse health effects in the community. Disaster surveillance allows us to identify risk factors, track disease trends, determine action items, and tailor interventions. It also allows us to assess the human health impacts of a disaster and evaluate potential problems related to planning and prevention.
While each disaster is different, there are similarities among them. We can apply knowledge learned from each response to the next disaster. Disaster surveillance is often categorized broadly as mortality and morbidity surveillance.
Mortality surveillance
Mortality surveillance measures death in a population. It is an important indicator of the gravity of a disaster. Identifying the leading cause(s) and circumstances of death can help guide immediate and future prevention strategies.
CDC developed tools and guidelines to help partners with disaster mortality surveillance including the following:
- Guidance for Certification of Deaths in the Event of a Natural, Human-Induced, or Chemical/Radiological Disaster
- Death Scene Investigation Toolkit
- Reference Guide for Death Certification
- Disaster-Related Mortality Surveillance Form
Additionally, CDC developed an eLearning course on the Guidance for Certification of Deaths in the Event of a Natural, Human-Induced, or Radiological/Chemical Disaster designed for Medical Examiners (MEs)/Coroners and physicians.
Morbidity surveillance
Morbidity surveillance during a disaster allows for the detection of potential disease outbreaks and tracking of disease and injury trends. A common myth is that epidemics are inevitable during a disaster. However, epidemics do not spontaneously occur, and public health surveillance can mitigate the likelihood for outbreaks through early detection and response. CDC's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) works closely with American Red Cross, state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) jurisdictions, and other CDC centers to conduct disaster surveillance during a response.
The following tools and guidelines are available to help partners with disaster morbidity surveillance:
- Primer for Understanding the Principles and Practices of Disaster Surveillance
- Guidance for Emergency Managers for Identifying At-Risk Groups
- Several morbidity surveillance templates to be used in acute situations such as shelters.
CDC also developed an eLearning on Disaster Surveillance to provide partners with an overview of disaster surveillance.