Pitching a 'flu tent' in the Big
Apple: Maximizing Influenza
Response and Coordination in
New York City using Volunteer
Geographic Information.
Josh Vertalka
(MSU, Geography)
Berkey Hall, Room 457
March 19 @ 2 – 4 pm
ABSTRACT
Traditional influenza surveillance techniques are antiquated, creating potential delays in hospital response times and the coordination of medical supplies during influenza outbreaks. Even more progressive digital surveillance techniques lack the beneficiary geographical and temporal specificity needed to identify influenza outbreaks. Quickly identifying the severity of an influenza outbreak is imperative for hospital functions.
During severe influenza outbreaks, hospitals often become over-capacitated with patients and then must rely on mobile 'flu tents' for additional beds. Furthermore, overcapacitated hospitals can quickly deplete their influenza medical supplies and therefore require replenishing by other hospitals in the region. This paper seeks to provide hospitals with information to quickly determine the needed location of 'flu tents' and the coordination of regional influenza medical supplies through Tweets as Volunteer
Geographic Information (VGI). Tweets can be used to track the spatial and temporal distributions of influenza cases in real-time, thus providing a myriad of tools and information to hospitals during influenza outbreaks.
This talk is co-sponsored by the Global Urban Studies Program (GUSP) and the
Sociology Department. For additional information, contact Dr. Zachary Neal
(zpneal@msu.edu).