An ad hoc committee will conduct a review and assessment of the current state of the field and best practices in assessing and quantifying mortality and significant morbidity following large-scale disasters, with a specific focus on disasters declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The purpose of this study is to describe the current landscape of mortality and significant morbidity data collection and information sharing processes used by state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) public health agencies, and to propose areas for future resource investment to enhance these practices. In identifying and evaluating best practices and resources, the committee will focus on those applicable to SLTT public health preparedness and response practitioners.

Specifically, the committee will:
-Describe the importance of mortality and significant morbidity data after disaster impact, their use, and the organizations that capture these data or could benefit from use of the data.

-Describe the current architecture, methodologies, and information systems currently in use or available to SLTT public health agencies for the sharing and reporting of this data, highlighting the diversity of processes and identifying potential best practices. In doing so the committee may consider current guidance for attributing deaths directly and indirectly to a specific disaster, the role of information technology systems, including limitations, and continuity mechanisms to ensure continued data collection in a post-impact environment.

-Identify current challenges to collecting, recording, and reporting mortality and significant morbidity data after disasters, including, as feasible, challenges related to lack of standardization for data collection and disaster attribution, coordination, and training.

- Identify best practices for collecting, recording, and reporting mortality and significant morbidity data after disasters, and recommend priority areas of emphasis and allocation of resources to enhance SLTT mortality and significant morbidity data collection and reporting after disasters, considering feasibility, sustainability and impact to SLTT and healthcare organizations.

-Review analytic approaches and statistical methods for disaster-related mortality and significant morbidity and identify best practices for conducting prospective tracking and retrospective studies.

The committee may elect to investigate best practices through one or more site visits.

This study is intended to focus on non-infectious disease related disasters (e.g. hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) as defined in the Stafford Act. Syndromic surveillance, long-term surveillance and surveillance of responders are outside the scope of this study.