Challenge
Dr. Kieran Moore of Queen's University collaborated with
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public
Health (KFL&A) to develop an Emergency Department
Syndromic Surveillance (EDSS) program that would enable
real-time, outbreak and disease surveillance for the region's
nine local hospitals. The original EDSS program was created
by adapting an existing tool – the University of Pittsburgh's
Real-time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS).
To modify the program for public consumption, KFL&A
needed to find a way to mask sensitive data and push
results out to the public through an external-facing Web
tool. The application also required a user-friendly interface
that could be easily accessed by healthcare providers,
educators, employers, parents, public officials and
community members.
GIS delivers real-time outbreak and
disease surveillance
In response to growing alarm over the possibility of infectious disease in Canada,
an innovative Web mapping application was developed in collaboration with Kingston,
Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFL&A) to monitor real-time
outbreak and disease surveillance. Making Emergency Department Syndromic
Surveillance (EDSS) data from local hospitals available to the public promotes peace of
mind and serves as an effective early detection resource to mitigate disease outbreaks.
1 Esri Canada | GIS enables KFL&A area to track the spread of infectious disease
