ISDS Annual Conference Proceedings 2019. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 

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Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 11(1): e260, 2019 

 

ISDS 2019 Conference Abstracts 

Real-time monitoring of a mass K2-related overdose outbreak 
– Connecticut, 2018 

Kristen Soto, Erin Grogan, Alexander Senetcky, Susan Logan 

Epidemiology, Connecticut Department of Public Health, Hartford, Connecticut, United States 

Objective 

To describe the use of syndromic surveillance data for real-time situational awareness of emergency department utilization during 
a localized mass overdose event related to the substance K2. 

Introduction 

On August 15, 2018, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) became aware of a cluster of suspected overdoses in an 
urban park related to the synthetic cannabinoid K2. Abuse of K2 has been associated with serious adverse effects and overdose 
clusters have been reported in multiple states. This investigation aimed to characterize the use of syndromic surveillance da ta to 
monitor a cluster of suspected overdoses in real time. 

Methods 

The EpiCenter syndromic surveillance system collects data on all emergency department (ED) visits at Connecticut hospitals. E D 
visits associated with the event were identified using ad hoc keyword analyses. The number of visits by facility location for the 
state, county, and city were communicated to state and local partners in real time. Gender, age, and repeated ED visits were assessed. 

After the event, surveillance findings were summarized for partners 

Results 

During the period of August 15–16, 2018 the number of ED visits with a mention of K2 in the chief complaint increased from three 
to 30 in the impacted county, compared to a peak of 5 visits during the period of March–July, 2018. An additional 25 ED visits 
were identified using other related keywords (e.g., weed). After the event, 72 ED visits were identified with K2 and location  
keywords in the chief complaint or triage notes. These 72 visits comprised 53 unique patients, with 12 patients returning to the ED 
2–5 times over the two day period. Of 53 patients, 77% were male and the median age was 40 years (interquartile range 35–51 
years). Surveillance findings were shared with partners in real time for situational awareness, and in a summary report on August 

21. 

Conclusions 

Data from the EpiCenter system were consistent with reports from other data sources regarding this cluster of suspected drug 
overdoses. Next steps related to this event involve: monitoring data for reference to areas of concentra ted substance use, enabling 
automated alerts to detect clusters of interest, and developing a plan to improve coordinate real -time communication with 
stakeholderswithin DPH and with external partners during events. 

 

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