• David R Sayers, Scott T Hulse, Bryant J Webber, Timothy A Burns, and Anne L Denicoff.
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
• JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020 Jul 31; 6 (3): e22331.

AbstractEpidemiologic 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.©David R Sayers, Scott T Hulse, Bryant J Webber, Timothy A Burns, Anne L Denicoff. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 31.07.2020.

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