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A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Public Health Experts Urging More Extensive Personal, Community Preparedness Planning For Potentially More Serious H1N1 Flu In Fall

July 1st, 2009 · No Comments

Recently on the blog I have been focusing attention on citizen preparedness for the potential of a more serious outbreak of H1N1 flu in the Fall. And so I wanted to highlight an interesting article from the news service of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). The piece, “Experts stress need for personal, community preparedness”, by Ayisha Yahya notes that public health officials are repositioning their messaging for the Fall and are urging citizens to make more robust plans:

If you don’t have an emergency preparedness plan for yourself, your family, and even your community, now is a good time to make one. That’s the message public health officials are sending as cases of the novel H1N1 influenza virus continue to rise nationally and globally.

“If you don’t have a plan, you need one now,” said Roger Pollok, special projects manager for Emergency Preparedness at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District in Texas. “The stakes are a little different now.”

The CIDRAP article notes further that in the initial H1N1 outbreak public health officials focused primarily on disease prevention:

“The message was, ‘People, y’all need to take precautions,’” Pollok said.

These precautions include covering coughs with tissue, cleaning hands frequently and thoroughly with soap or alcohol-based sanitizers, sanitizing surfaces such as shopping cart handles, and staying away from others when ill. Pollok said these are healthy habits people always need to maintain.

But now many health departments are now also working on reinforcing messages on personal and community preparedness. Being informed is the first step, health officials say.

Pandemicflu.gov and various health departments offer checklists on what individuals and families can do to get ready for a pandemic. They include:

· Learn about pandemic H1N1 influenza, its symptoms, how it spreads, and how to prevent infections.

· Stock up on water and non-perishable food. Although the recommendations vary from days’ to months’ worth, most experts agree it’s important to have extra key supplies on hand.

· Ensure you have a supply of your prescription medicines.

· Keep other emergency and health supplies handy such as flashlights, manual can openers, face masks, and painkillers.

· Make a list of people who are willing to help and can be contacted in case of emergencies.

· Make plans for potential disruptions at work, curtailed social gatherings, and school closures (for example, is it possible to work from home if you are unable to go into work?).

Other useful skills for pandemic preparedness include learning how to care for the sick at home, rehydration therapy, and isolation measures, said, Joy Alexiou, public information officer for the Santa Clara Department of Public Health in California.

“Get things in order. Have the supplies in hand so you are not surprised when you go to the store and it’s not there,” said Alexiou, noting that in the first days of the HINI outbreak, some stores ran out of hand sanitizer.

Because infections can spread quickly among children and in school settings, constantly reminding kids about necessary health precautions is also important. Hundreds of schools around the world have closed to help contain the spread of infection. Pollok said his department is planning a back-to-school campaign with information about the flu.

Public health officials also encourage a broad approach when it comes to emergency planning-individuals should not only be ready for a pandemic, but other disasters that may affect their area, such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes. “When you develop a plan, make sure it’s all-hazards,” Pollok said.

Officials are also focusing a lot of attention on communicating with sometimes difficult to reach segments of the population, including immigrant communities.

Alaric Bien, of the Chinese Information and Service Center in Seattle, said his organization has worked closely with Seattle-King County to develop an emergency preparedness plan. Bien said. He has been working with staff to ensure they are prepared.

Bien said his organization wants to prepare the community by focusing not only on increasing people’s knowledge, but also encouraging appropriate behavior. He noted that even though people may have the information they need, they may not think about preparing on a day-to-day basis unless there’s an imminent threat.

The early days of the outbreak showed that it helps to have accurate messages “in language” from an organization that community members trust, Bien said. The organization plans to send a reminder through ethnic media of simple things people can do to get ready every week.

Dealing with a pandemic will also require communication and cooperation among health officials, community leaders, and different groups, Kinsey said, adding that now is a good time to build community ties and develop community channels.

Alexiou said her department is planning a public awareness campaign in multiple languages about influenza. Past campaigns on pandemic preparedness received a lot of visibility, she said, but communities need to reinforce these messages.

“If community efforts are not sustained, then people forget,” Alexiou said, adding that the timing for education is now ideal, because people are more likely to pay attention.

CIDRAP is a global leader in addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response. It has a Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools (www.pandemicpractices.org) online database which showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. I subscribe to CIDRAP’s daily news headlines email newsletter here. (Thanks to Homeland Security Watch where I initially saw this article.)

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