Notes From the Field: Use of Emergency Medical Service Data to Augment COVID-19 Public Health Surveillance in Montgomery County, Maryland, From March to June 2020.

Epidemiologic and syndromic surveillance metrics traditionally used by public health departments can be enhanced to better predict hospitalization for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In Montgomery County, Maryland, measurements of oxygen saturation (SpO) by pulse oximetry obtained by the emergency medical service (EMS) were added to these traditional metrics to enhance the public health picture for decision makers. During a 78-day period, the rolling 7-day average of the percentage of EMS patients with SpO <94% had a stronger correlation with next-day hospital bed occupancy (Spearman ρ=0.