As flu season approaches, please keep in mind that the CDC has a plethora of resources about the flu and pandemics. Click on the image below to see the latest weekly influenza surveillance map.

The Historical Collections department at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, has posted a fascinating look back at what dealing with a pandemic was like “back in the day.” Have a look at the online exihibit of “The Plague Book,” to see a variety of methodologies for preventing plague and for treating it (if you failed to prevent it). I’m sure we’ve come a long way toward both efforts when it comes to anticipating a pandemic of influenza, but you can’t help wondering if taking “two hand-ful of Valerian, three roots of Danewort, a handful of Smallage, or Lovage, if you can get it, seethe them all in butter and water, & a few crumbs of bread, and make a poultice thereof” might be as helpful as anything in the event of a vaccine shortage!

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) has released a new edition of its preparedness toolkit which includes some excellent guidelines for creating a “continuity of operations” (COOP) plan in the event of a pandemic or epidemic. The site has links to directions for creating a manual, and worksheets to walk you through the planning process for service continuity. Take a look for some thought-provoking information for us to consider about keeping our essential services up and running if staff are out with the flu. Thanks, VDEM!

The World Health Organization has created a six phase pandemic alert system for informing the world of the seriousness of a threat. Each alert phase triggers a series of activities to be undertaken by WHO. Click on the chart below to view the current phase of alert.

According to the CDC, flu season in the United States usually runs from November through March. Here’s a link to CDC’s FluView, which is a weekly surveillence report.

Check this out!  Did we think that our procedures are fine for shelter-in-place?  Take a look at this document from the “Redefining Readiness” work group, authored by some very well-spoken people from the New York Academy of Medicine.  Having any procedure is better than none, I suppose, but the questions raised by this document are as good as “lessons learned” before the event happens!  Back to the drawing board we go!

I subscribe to the emailed newsletter from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and the one from this past week contained some very interesting information for those of us involved in emergency preparedness particularly in public spaces and hospital settings.  Two headlines grabbed my attention right away; one being the the results of a poll taken of people living on the southeast US coast with regard to hurricane preparedness, the other being a post about the OSHA guidelines for pandemic flu preparedness, which seems to have been updated since we reported on it earlier.  However, the other posts are also timely, so check it out!

The Leadership Forum on Pandemic Planning begins tomorrow in Washington, DC.  A blog summit has been going on since May 23rd.  Here’s a link to a posting on that blog by Michael Redlener, Director, National Center of Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University, titled “Preparing for Pandemics: What We Need to Do Now.”  Note his concern about hospitals being prepared for a pandemic …

“But the problem is that we will need the response and treatment capacity of our hospitals and health care facilities to be in optimal condition if and when we actually experience a serious pandemic. And, if we continue along the track we’re currently on, the hospitals will not, in the foreseeable future, be ready.”

On June 13th, a Leadership Forum will be held in Washington, DC on pandemic preparedness. As a lead up to the event, the Department of Health and Human Services is hosting a five-week blog summit. The purpose of the blog is to promote an open conversation about the importance of pandemic preparedness.

The CDC has released guidelines for using facemasks and respirators in non-occupational community settings during a pandemic. Click on one of the following for further information:

Summary of Guidelines
News Release
Audio Webcast