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Resources for local government agencies |
Download the Pandemic Influenza Emergency Response Manual written by the King County Human Resources Division.
Continuity of government issues that should be addressed by local agencies |
| 1. |
Identify critical functions and processes:
- Life / health / safety
- Essential to accomplishing the mission of the agency
- Perform Business Impact Analysis
- Critical “Daily” functions that need to be provided EVEN during an event although at a reduced level
- Identify Standard Operating Procedures of critical functions/processes and clearly document so resources pulled from non-essential functions can perform in an emergency and/or “surge”
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| 2. |
Identify positions needed to carry out critical functions:
- Identify and assign key team leads and alternates
- Identify and assign team members by location
- Document processes & task checklists
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| 3. |
Identify staff that can be cross trained to backfill critical functions.
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| 4. |
Identify critical functions that can be performed via telecommuting and/or manual processes if IT systems are overloaded or if re-assigned staff is not familiar with applications:
- Data entry
- Patient Referrals & appointments
- Records management
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| 5. |
Identify functions that can be suspended while staff is reassigned to more critical roles.
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| 6. |
Identify the department’s technology needs related to large-scale telecommuting and conference calling:
- Pre-establish conference bridge lines and status call schedules by division
- Laptops
- VPN Access
- Information “SECURITY”
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| 7. |
Review human resource policies to determine whether staff can be prevented from remaining at work if symptomatic for influenza.
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| 8. |
Determine whether critical functions could be performed through flex shifting.
- Establish shifts, longer hours of operations, alternate work days, etc.
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| 9. |
Review human resource and labor policies regarding the implementation of flex schedules.
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| 10. |
Promote public education campaigns with posters in all facilities and via staff newsletters, emails, etc.
- Conduct staff “plan walkthroughs” to identify inconsistencies and/or areas of confusion.
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| 11. |
Make alcohol hand gel and disinfectant wipes available and accessible to all staff.
- Establish protocols to protect the health of staff
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| 12. |
Participate in training that addresses communicating with staff during a crisis.
- CRITICAL – Think of “Human Continuity” (Stress, etc.)
- Plan internal communications and updates on a regular basis
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| 13. |
Ensure alcohol hand gel, masks and educational materials are located at the public entrances to all county facilities.
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| 14. |
Develop mechanisms to track department absenteeism daily and report the percentages to the Office of Emergency Management and Public Health – Seattle and King County. |
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