Developing a Guidance Document to Improve Public Health Surveillance during Disasters

Introduction During all phases of the disaster management cycle, PH surveillance plays a valuable role. Surveillance provides PH officials and stakeholders the information they need to respond to disasters and take action in an appropriate and timely manner. Despite the fact that surveillance provides a valuable function in disasters, a study by the Disaster Epidemiology Subcommittee of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) found that there are still significant differences, across states, in their use of disaster surveillance1. Further, there is no standardized guidance on implementing or modifying surveillance for a domestic disaster. This document seeks to fill this gap, providing guidance on planning, initiating, conducting, and evaluating disaster PH surveillance in the U.S.