Swine Flu Preparedness for Schools -SafePlans offers free web-conference

SafePlans is offering a free pandemic planning web-conference for educators and public health officials. A link to registration is located on the SchoolSafetyNews.com homepage.

The recent declaration of a public health emergency over the swine flu cases in the U.S. and Mexico highlights the importance of public health and [pandemic planning. An influenza-based public health emergency and/or pandemic has always been a question of “when” not “if” and while it was assumed a new strain of /avian flu would be the culprit, experts emphasized a pandemic can be caused by any new virus.

It is not known if this particular “swine flu” virus could even lead to a pandemic; but planning for a Pandemic event requires strategies unlike any other disaster. This is primarily due to the facts that when a pandemic occurs we will 1) see it coming, 2) be unable to stop it, 3) be forced to deal with exposure concerns for over one year and 4) will take several years to recover.

What Is an Influenza Pandemic?

A pandemic is defined as a global disease outbreak. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population, begins to cause serious illness and then spreads easily person-to-person worldwide.

Historically, the 20th century saw 3 pandemics of influenza:

• 1918 influenza pandemic caused at least 500,000 U.S. deaths and up to 40 million deaths worldwide
• 1957 influenza pandemic caused at least 70,000 U.S. deaths and 1-2 million deaths worldwide
• 1968 influenza pandemic caused about 34,000 U.S. deaths and 700,000 deaths worldwide

Characteristics and challenges of a pandemic

1. Rapid Worldwide Spread
2. Health Care Systems Overloaded
3. Medical Supplies Inadequate
4. Economic and Social Disruption

Communications and Information are Critical Components of Pandemic Response

Education and outreach are critical to preparing for a pandemic. Understanding what a pandemic is, what needs to be done at all levels to prepare for pandemic influenza, and what could happen during a pandemic helps us make informed decisions both as individuals and as a nation. Should a pandemic occur the public must be able to depend on its government to provide scientifically sound public health information quickly, openly and dependably.

What Can Be Done?

While there is nothing a government, school district or business can do to prevent the onset of a pandemic, there is an enormous opportunity to mitigate its effects via planning and training. These preparedness measures should focus on three key stages:

1. Preparedness
2. Response
3. Recovery

1. Preparedness

Perhaps the most important aspect of mitigating a pandemic outbreak lies in the development and implementation of training programs and the creation of plans that outline measures to be taken as part of the response and recovery stages.

A. Training

Programs should be developed to aid leadership in developing instructional programs to familiarize their co-workers and subordinates with the following measures.

1. 1. Social Distancing
2. 2. Hygiene
3. 3. Planning

2. Response

The response to a pandemic event may not necessarily have a clear onset. As human-to-human transmission of the virus becomes more prevalent, response measures will need to be increased as the level of human-to-human transmission increases. Response measures, including training programs and procedures should be developed to the extent possible during the planning stage.

1. Social Distancing
2. Wellness Program Enforcement
3. Hygiene Practices
4. School Closures

3. Recovery

If recovery is defined as a return to normal operations, this stage will not be implemented until the pandemic has ended. However, there are many procedures that can be made during the Response state that may minimize the effects of events such as long-term closings.

Remember, always collaborate with your local public health agencies on pandemic planning issues.

Stay safe!

Brad

This post is provided by SafePlans (www.safeplans.com), an all-hazards preparedness solution including emergency plans, staff training, and detailed site mapping. SafePlans’ Emergency Response Information Portal (ERIP) system includes comprehensive and customizable web-based public health plans.

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