Utility of Ambulance Data for Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance: A Pilot in the West Midlands Region, United Kingdom. 2017

Dan Todkill, and Paul Loveridge, and Alex J Elliot, and Roger A Morbey, and Obaghe Edeghere, and Tracy Rayment-Bishop, and Chris Rayment-Bishop, and John E Thornes, and Gillian Smith
1Public Health England,Field Epidemiology Training Programme Fellow,United Kingdom.

Introduction The Public Health England (PHE; United Kingdom) Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team (ReSST) currently operates four national syndromic surveillance systems, including an emergency department system. A system based on ambulance data might provide an additional measure of the "severe" end of the clinical disease spectrum. This report describes the findings and lessons learned from the development and preliminary assessment of a pilot syndromic surveillance system using ambulance data from the West Midlands (WM) region in England. Hypothesis/Problem Is an Ambulance Data Syndromic Surveillance System (ADSSS) feasible and of utility in enhancing the existing suite of PHE syndromic surveillance systems? METHODS An ADSSS was designed, implemented, and a pilot conducted from September 1, 2015 through March 1, 2016. Surveillance cases were defined as calls to the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) regarding patients who were assigned any of 11 specified chief presenting complaints (CPCs) during the pilot period. The WMAS collected anonymized data on cases and transferred the dataset daily to ReSST, which contained anonymized information on patients' demographics, partial postcode of patients' location, and CPC. The 11 CPCs covered a broad range of syndromes. The dataset was analyzed descriptively each week to determine trends and key epidemiological characteristics of patients, and an automated statistical algorithm was employed daily to detect higher than expected number of calls. A preliminary assessment was undertaken to assess the feasibility, utility (including quality of key indicators), and timeliness of the system for syndromic surveillance purposes. Lessons learned and challenges were identified and recorded during the design and implementation of the system. RESULTS The pilot ADSSS collected 207,331 records of individual ambulance calls (daily mean=1,133; range=923-1,350). The ADSSS was found to be timely in detecting seasonal changes in patterns of respiratory infections and increases in case numbers during seasonal events. CONCLUSIONS Further validation is necessary; however, the findings from the assessment of the pilot ADSSS suggest that selected, but not all, ambulance indicators appear to have some utility for syndromic surveillance purposes in England. There are certain challenges that need to be addressed when designing and implementing similar systems. Todkill D , Loveridge P , Elliot AJ , Morbey RA , Edeghere O , Rayment-Bishop T , Rayment-Bishop C , Thornes JE , Smith G . Utility of ambulance data for real-time syndromic surveillance: a pilot in the West Midlands region, United Kingdom. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(6):667-672.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D010865 Pilot Projects Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work. Pilot Studies,Pilot Study,Pilot Project,Project, Pilot,Projects, Pilot,Studies, Pilot,Study, Pilot
D004189 Disaster Planning Procedures outlined for the care of casualties and the maintenance of services in disasters. Disaster Management,Emergency Preparedness,Disaster Relief Planning,Management, Disaster,Planning, Disaster,Planning, Disaster Relief,Preparedness, Emergency,Relief Planning, Disaster
D004196 Disease Outbreaks Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS. Outbreaks,Infectious Disease Outbreaks,Disease Outbreak,Disease Outbreak, Infectious,Disease Outbreaks, Infectious,Infectious Disease Outbreak,Outbreak, Disease,Outbreak, Infectious Disease,Outbreaks, Disease,Outbreaks, Infectious Disease
D004739 England A part of Great Britain within the United Kingdom.
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000552 Ambulances A vehicle equipped for transporting patients in need of emergency care. Emergency Mobile Units,Mobile Emergency Units,Ambulance,Emergency Mobile Unit,Emergency Unit, Mobile,Emergency Units, Mobile,Mobile Emergency Unit,Mobile Unit, Emergency,Mobile Units, Emergency,Unit, Emergency Mobile,Unit, Mobile Emergency,Units, Emergency Mobile,Units, Mobile Emergency
D013222 State Medicine A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population. National Health Service, British,Socialized Medicine,British Health Service, National,British National Health Service,Medicine, Socialized,Medicine, State,Service, British National Health

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