The rapid surveillance team manages the NSW Public Health Rapid, Emergency, Disease and Syndromic Surveillance (PHREDSS) system.
PHREDSS has the capability to monitor daily signals for unplanned presentations to NSW public hospital emergency departments and emergency Triple Zero (000) calls to NSW Ambulance. Emergency hospital presentations and ambulance calls are grouped into related acute illness and injury categories. The number of presentations and calls in each category are monitored over time to quickly identify unusual patterns of illness. Unusual patterns could signify an emerging outbreak of disease or an issue of public health importance in the community. PHREDSS is also useful for monitoring the impact of seasonal and known disease outbreaks, such as seasonal influenza or gastroenteritis, on the NSW population.
Publicly available, regularly produced reports that incorporate data from the rapid surveillance team include the NSW respiratory surveillance reports.