Mass Gatherings: Webinar Highlights and Resources

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Webinar Highlight

Mass Gatherings Case Study:The Boston Public Health Commission’s response to Marathon bombing

Improving Biosurveillance for Mass Gatherings – The 2013 Boston Marathon Example The Boston Public Health Commission shares their experience using surveillance technology to respond to the needs of injured persons and prevent further injuries from occurring.

Boston Healthcare Preparedness Coalition Charter
The Boston Healthcare Preparedness Coalition (HPC) is a partnership consisting of public health, emergency medical services (EMS), hospitals, community health centers, long term care, home health, mental health, and specialty care organizations. These partners coordinate for a unified response to emergencies affecting public health and/or its infrastructure in any or all areas of the region.
Emergency Support Function 8: Public Health & Medical Services Coordinated Response & Recovery Efforts After the Boston Bombings
A summary of the roles of public health and medical services in response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Office of Public Health Preparedness 2013 Year in Review
A graphical summary of the 2013 operations of the Boston OPHP.
Boston Public Health Commission – Syndromic Surveillance

Public Health Surveillance for Mass Gatherings
Mass gatherings represent specific challenges for public health officials because of the health risks associated with crowd size and duration of stay. In addition, population movement requires public health departments to interact across jurisdictional boundaries to identify risks and disease-management solutions. However, federal privacy laws restrict the sharing of patient data among public health departments in multiple jurisdictions. This article examines previous disease surveillance practices by public health officials in planning for mass events and describes a simple approach for sharing health-risk information that was employed in 2007 during Super Bowl XLI by the health departments of Indiana, Marion County, Cook County, and Miami-Dade County.