Evaluation of Active Mortality Surveillance System Data for Monitoring Hurricane-Related Deaths—Texas, 2008

Choudhary, Ekta; Zane, David F.; Beasley, Crystal; Jones, Russell; Rey, Araceli; Noe, Rebecca S.; Martin, Colleen; Wolkin, Amy; Bayleyegn, Tesfaye

doi:10.1017/s1049023x12000957

Cited by 22 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This expectation of having timely and accurate hurricane-related death counts immediately following a catastrophic disaster represents a failure among scientists and communicators to convey the inherent superiority of excess mortality estimation over "body counts" in complex disaster scenarios where surveillance systems and death certification processes are disrupted (Checchi & Roberts, 2008). Currently, there is little to guide communicators in making this distinction apparent to public audiences; while there is scientific literature related to mortality surveillance (Choudhary, 2012;Farag et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2017;Rocha et al, 2017;Seil et al, 2016) and documenting cause of death (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters [CRED], 2016;Lakkireddy et al, 2004;Phillips et al, 2014;Wexelman et al, 2013), there is a paucity of studies exploring the specific concept of communicating disaster mortality to the public. There is no literature base that examines how death counts from a disaster should be communicated to the media, how to best explain information gaps that are common following disasters, how death counts may evolve post-disaster, or how to explain the science behind excess death estimates and what we can or cannot infer from these estimates.…”

Section: Communication Of Disaster Mortality To the Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality Reporting and Rumor Generation: An Assessment of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

Andrade

Barrett

Edberg

et al. 2020

JICRCR

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This study assessed the Government of Puerto Rico’s crisis and emergency risk communications following Hurricane María and the post-disaster information environment to identify factors that may have contributed to negative public perceptions of mortality reports. Data included Government of Puerto Rico press releases, press conference audio recordings and Facebook Live transmissions, digital media news and social media commentary, and interviews with Government of Puerto Rico personnel and community stakeholders. Study findings indicate that inadequate crisis communication planning and training, coupled with information gaps and inconsistencies, contributed to rumors around the issue of mortality. As a consequence, the Government of Puerto Rico lost the ability to effectively manage messaging, thus decreasing their credibility, perceived transparency, and public trust. Recommendations regarding future preparedness activities and research are offered.

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Section: Communication Of Disaster Mortality To the Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality Reporting and Rumor Generation: An Assessment of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

Andrade

Barrett

Edberg

et al. 2020

JICRCR

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“…• Injuries and poisonings Monitoring disaster mortality through vital registration systems alone has been shown to result in the potential underestimation of impacts (Choudhary et al 2008). ''Active mortality surveillance systems'' can be established, which provide guidance to physicians and medical examiners on causes of death and mortality codes likely to arise because of a disaster.…”

Section: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These have been shown to result in the identification of a significantly higher number of disaster deaths than gleaned from CRVS alone. For example, during Hurricane Ike in 2008, a review of vital statistics data found only four deaths in Texas to be hurricane related, but a rapidly implemented active mortality surveillance system identified 74 hurricane-related deaths (Choudhary et al 2008).…”

Section: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges with Disaster Mortality Data and Measuring Progress Towards the Implementation of the Sendai Framework

Green

Lysaght

Saulnier

et al. 2019

Int J Disaster Risk Sci

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Disasters exact a heavy toll globally. However, the degree to which we can accurately quantify their impact, in particular mortality, remains challenging. It is critical to ensure that disaster data reliably reflects the scale, type, and distribution of disaster impacts given the role of data in: (1) risk assessments; (2) developing disaster risk management programs; (3) determining the resources for response to emergencies; (4) the types of action undertaken in planning for prevention and preparedness; and (5) identifying research gaps. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030s seven global disaster-impact reduction targets represent the first international attempt to systematically measure the effectiveness of disaster-impact reduction as a means of better informing policy with evidence. Target A of the Sendai Framework aims to ''substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower the average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020-2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.'' This article provides an overview of the complexities associated with defining, reporting, and interpreting disaster mortality data used for gauging success in meeting Target A, acknowledging different challenges for different types of hazard events and subsequent disasters. It concludes with suggestions of how to address these challenges to inform the public health utility of monitoring through the Sendai Framework.

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“…These studies described how mortality surveillance systems successfully identified hurricane-related deaths and allowed jurisdictions to rapidly direct their public health response. In addition, the detailed information collected as part of the disaster surveillance system was a valuable resource for assessing disaster-related deaths because it includes more information about the circumstances of the death than reported on the death certificates (6). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medicolegal Death Scene Investigations after Natural Disaster- and Weather-Related Events: A Review of the Literature

Rocha

Fromknecht

Redman

et al. 2017

Academic Forensic Pathology

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Background The number of disaster-related deaths recorded by vital statistics departments often differs from that reported by other agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Weather Service storm database and the American Red Cross. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched an effort to improve disaster-related death scene investigation reporting practices to make data more comparable across jurisdictions, improve accuracy of reporting disaster-related deaths, and enhance identification of risk and protective factors. We conducted a literature review to examine how death scene data are collected and how such data are used to determine disaster relatedness. Methods Two analysts conducted a parallel search using Google and Google Scholar. We reviewed published peer-reviewed articles and unpublished documents including relevant forms, protocols, and worksheets from coroners, medical examiners, and death scene investigators. Results We identified 177 documents: 32 published peer-reviewed articles and 145 other documents (grey literature). Published articles suggested no consistent approach for attributing deaths to a disaster. Researchers generally depended on death certificates to identify disaster-related deaths; several studies also drew on supplemental sources, including medical examiner, coroner, and active surveillance reports. Conclusions These results highlight the critical importance of consistent, accurate data collection during a death investigation. Review of the grey literature found variation in use of death scene data collection tools, indicating the potential for widespread inconsistency in data captured for routine reporting and public health surveillance. Findings from this review will be used to develop guidelines and tools for capturing disaster-related death investigation data.

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Evaluation of Active Mortality Surveillance System Data for Monitoring Hurricane-Related Deaths—Texas, 2008

Cited by 22 publications

References 11 publications

Mortality Reporting and Rumor Generation: An Assessment of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

Mortality Reporting and Rumor Generation: An Assessment of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

Challenges with Disaster Mortality Data and Measuring Progress Towards the Implementation of the Sendai Framework

Medicolegal Death Scene Investigations after Natural Disaster- and Weather-Related Events: A Review of the Literature

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