Public Safety-Specific Information on Emerging Health Issues
This page was last updated on November 9, 2022.
“We have been a FirstWatch customer for the past year and have been continuously impressed with their ability to help us maximize our responses and create efficiencies within our service.
In addition to the analytic tools, we have been able to create special hazard and paramedic safety notifications that help us improve the safety of our paramedics and responders. As COVID-19 began to emerge we instinctively turned to FirstWatch to help us design an alert that would help us increase the safety of paramedics.
FirstWatch was able to work with us to design a custom alert that immediately notifies supervisors when paramedics are responding to a call that could result in a potential exposure.
We have found this trigger to be effective and immediate. We have had several recent instances in which this FirstWatch trigger was able to alert our supervisors of a potential COVID-19 exposure BEFORE the paramedics arrived on scene. The supervisors were able to communicate this information to the crews, augmenting their protection and reducing their chance of exposure.
We are incredibly thankful for this alert system and for the dedication of the FirstWatch team.”
Adam Bennett BA AEMCA ASM, Commander (A), Middlesex-London Paramedic Service
SEASONAL INFLUENZA (FLU)
Provides info on upcoming & current seasonal flu(s) & reported influenza-like illness (ILI), using reports from various public health, government & other resources.
EBOLA
Provides info on past, current, and upcoming Ebola outbreaks, using reports from various public health, government & other resources.
OVERDOSES / OPIOIDS
Contains resources related to awareness and mitigation of opioids and overdoses in response to this nationwide but often local crisis.
FirstWatch Recommendations for Surveillance of EMS Data for Opioid Overdoses
Updated April 10, 2019
COVID-19
Public Safety-oriented information and resources on COVID-19. All COVID-19 items previously posted in other sections have been consolidated here for convenience. We are proudly assisting more than 160 customer partners with real-time COVID-19 data analysis & automated alerting.
OUTBREAKS/EMERGING DISEASES/PANDEMICS
A listing & description of outbreaks of disease, novel viruses, epidemics, or other infections that
are making humans sick, even in small numbers. There may be overlap with In the News & Pandemics.
KEEPING YOUR EMPLOYEES SAFE
Contains info & resources to assist in providing for employee safety whether during standard operations or in planning for or responding to disasters.
IN THE NEWS
A quick briefing on outbreaks and other public health-related items in the news or reported via public health outlets.
The information contained on this site is provided under the direction of our medical advisors by FirstWatch as a service to all interested First Responders and Public Health Providers. Posts will summarize content for informational purposes; some will also include implications for First Responders. Links to sites that provide more detailed information and/or helpful resources will often be included. The most recent events will be at the top of the section.
These updates are provided by Pam Farber, RN, EMT-P using data from various public health, government, academic and other resources and include links to the source information, for those wishing more detail.
Join Our Regional Influenza Network
The FirstWatch Regional Influenza Network (or simply, RIN) uses FirstWatch Real-Time surveillance software to automatically monitor live data in 911 (EMS, Fire and Police) computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, watching for increases in complaints or symptoms that are consistent with the flu, including respiratory problems, abdominal pain, headache, fever, and other indicators associated with the flu, whether they appear in geographic clusters or across the entire population being monitored.
