Though public and media attention on the H1N1/Swine Flu outbreak has waned, there is a need to examine the lessons of the past couple weeks on citizen preparedness and response for the future — whether that be for a reoccurrence of a more deadly H1N1 flu possibly in the Fall or another national emergency situation.
So, I thought I would ask readers what you think is a lesson (or lessons) we can learn from the H1N1 situation when it comes to informing, engaging and preparing citizens for major emergencies. The suggestion can be very short or longer if you want. You can either comment at the bottom of this post or email me at  jsolomon@incaseofemergencyblog.com. I will collect and present them all on the blog. I think it will be a helpful collection not only for other citizens but also for policy makers.
For me, one of the major lessons  as I wrote about last week is the need to improve the government’s emergency social media capability. Another lesson is that we should not ‘let a serious crisis go to waste’ and make sure we are each prepared for the next — possibly more serious — crisis. I look forward to hearing your ideas.
1 response so far ↓
1 Eric Holdeman // May 9, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Watching the event on popular media was interesting:
-Early deaths reported in Mexico got everyone’s attention
-Alarm bells went off, appropriately
-WHO maybe took it too far to fast with elevating to Phase V
-Messaging, “don’t panic” is poor. People are watching too many disaster movies
-Message now should be about the Fall flu season in 2009 here in USA
-Some will read this as false alarm–and may not prepare/act again.
-Prior planning paid off, there was a system in place
-Capture what is learned and “Don’t Panic”
Eric
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