The Utility of Ambulance Dispatch Call Syndromic Surveillance for Detecting and Assessing the Health Impact of Extreme Weather Events in England

Simon Packer, Paul Loveridge, Ana Soriano, Roger Morbey, Dan Todkill, Ross Thompson, Tracy Rayment-Bishop, Cathryn James, Hilary Pillin, Gillian Smith and Alex J. Elliot
Additional contact information
Simon Packer: South West Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Bristol BS1 6EH, UK
Paul Loveridge: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK
Ana Soriano: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK
Roger Morbey: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK
Dan Todkill: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK
Ross Thompson: Extreme Events and Health Protection Team, UK Health Security Agency, London SE1 8UG, UK
Tracy Rayment-Bishop: West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, Brierley Hill DY5 1LX, West Midlands, UK
Cathryn James: Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, London EC4A 4AB, UK
Hilary Pillin: Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, London EC4A 4AB, UK
Gillian Smith: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK
Alex J. Elliot: Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Service, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham B2 4BH, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: Extreme weather events present significant global threats to health. The National Ambulance Syndromic Surveillance System collects data on 18 syndromes through chief presenting complaint (CPC) codes. We aimed to determine the utility of ambulance data to monitor extreme temperature events for action. Daily total calls were observed between 01/01/2018–30/04/2019. Median daily ’Heat/Cold’ CPC calls during “known extreme temperature” (identified a priori ), “extreme temperature”; (within 5th or 95th temperature percentiles for central England) and meteorological alert periods were compared to all other days using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. During the study period, 12,585,084 calls were recorded. In 2018, median daily “Heat/Cold” calls were higher during periods of known extreme temperature: heatwave (16/day, 736 total) and extreme cold weather events (28/day, 339 total) compared to all other days in 2018 (6/day, 1672 total). Median daily “Heat/Cold” calls during extreme temperature periods (16/day) were significantly higher than non-extreme temperature periods (5/day, p < 0.001). Ambulance data can be used to identify adverse impacts during periods of extreme temperature. Ambulance data are a low resource, rapid and flexible option providing real-time data on a range of indicators. We recommend ambulance data are used for the surveillance of presentations to healthcare related to extreme temperature events.

Keywords: weather; emergency medical dispatch; hot temperature; cold temperature; climate change; ambulance; public health; surveillance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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