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ABSTRACTS
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Research Winner
Assessing the Impact of a Community Fire on Pediatric Emergency Department Visits for Respiratory-Related Diagnoses: A Preliminary Report by Jonathan Li, PGY1
Introduction: On July 11, 2018, a Kensington community and burned
for over 12 hours. Local air monitors at a peak concentration above 2000 ug/ m3, almost 60 times greater than the 24-hour EPA health standard. We sought to assess if this air pollution event was associated with an increase in the number and severity of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for respiratory diagnoses.
Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed using data from the electronic health record (EHR) system of the community-based, academic pediatric regarding ED visits and ED-to-hospital admissions (as a marker for severity) were collected from a time range spanning
(6/27/18-7/24/18). Patients were included
from the ED was for a respiratory tract condition(s). ZIP codes were used to delineate patients geographically: location
codes (19124, 19125, 19133, 19137, and 19140). Analysis compared patient cohorts data was obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Information with the nearest station 2.3 miles
Results: In total, 444 ED visits met criteria for inclusion in our study (n=232 common diagnoses were: asthma (42%), upper respiratory tract infection/URI (30%), and non-streptococcal pharyngitis visits for non-streptococcal pharyngitis
admissions (0 vs. 7; p=0.01). There were or admissions observed among patients from the other ZIP codes (19134, 19124, 19125, 19137, and 19140) or overall. Wind measured to be primarily northward and secondarily eastward.
Conclusion: In this study, a localized, transient increase in PM2.5 above 24-hour EPA standards was associated with a community-level clinical impact on ED The observational nature of this study limits causal inference. This study also only accounted for ED visits, and did
not include data on outpatient, urgent care visits, or illness for which medical attention was not sought. This study
its full impact on the local community. Ultimately, children with asthma are at higher risk to experience adverse effects due to changes in air pollution. Clinicians should be aware that small-scale disaster
CONTRIBUTOR
■ Jonathan Li is a first-year resident in the combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program at ChristianaCare. He received his medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
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