JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (Jul 2020)

Notes From the Field: Use of Emergency Medical Service Data to Augment COVID-19 Public Health Surveillance in Montgomery County, Maryland, From March to June 2020

  • Sayers, David R,
  • Hulse, Scott T,
  • Webber, Bryant J,
  • Burns, Timothy A,
  • Denicoff, Anne L

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2196/22331
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 3
p. e22331

Abstract

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Epidemiologic and syndromic surveillance metrics traditionally used by public health departments can be enhanced to better predict hospitalization for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In Montgomery County, Maryland, measurements of oxygen saturation (SpO2) by pulse oximetry obtained by the emergency medical service (EMS) were added to these traditional metrics to enhance the public health picture for decision makers. During a 78-day period, the rolling 7-day average of the percentage of EMS patients with SpO2 <94% had a stronger correlation with next-day hospital bed occupancy (Spearman ρ=0.58, 95% CI 0.40-0.71) than either the rolling 7-day average of the percentage of positive tests (ρ=0.55, 95% CI: 0.37-0.69) or the rolling 7-day average of the percentage of emergency department visits for COVID-19–like illness (ρ=0.49, 95% CI: 0.30-0.64). Health departments should consider adding EMS data to augment COVID-19 surveillance and thus improve resource allocation.