Cloud computing; scan statistics; informatics Introduction Emergency management during a disaster entails innumerable challenges. Each disaster uniquely shapes the types and timing of information needed both to manage the disaster and to measure the impact on available resources, the environment and community systems. Traditional public health surveillance methods typically preclude providing a real-time, comprehensive estimate of public health impacts related to the disaster while the disaster is unfolding. Traditional methods can also be resource intensive and costly, require active cooperation of medical systems involved in a disaster response and are often conducted postdisaster.