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Tools and Resources for Influenza Preparedness

The United States, as well as other countries, has confirmed cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza virus infection. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), working together with other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, provides the following information and resources to support efforts to address this outbreak.

Select for more 2009 H1N1 influenza information.

AHRQ Resources for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness

• A comprehensive guide to help communities plan for and respond to a mass casualty event. Mass Medical Care with Scarce Resources: a Community Planning Guide includes a pandemic flu case study that provides a detailed overview of challenges community planners would face in a pandemic.
• A DVD program to cross-train non-respiratory therapy health care professionals in basic respiratory care and ventilator management in the event of a public health emergency.  Project XTREME, Cross-Training Respiratory Extenders for Medical Emergencies, includes six modules with interactive quizzes (DVD can be ordered at AHRQPubs@ahrq.hhs.gov or by calling toll-free: 800-358-9295).
• Adapting Community Call Centers for Crisis Support,  a model to enable community health call centers, such as poison control centers or nurse advice lines, to support home-management and shelter-in-place approaches in mass casualty or public health emergency events.
• A handbook for setting up and operating dispensing/vaccination centers. Community-Based Mass Prophylaxis: A Planning Guide for Public Health Preparedness is a comprehensive how-to guide with a computer model called BERM to help planners calculate staffing needs for such centers.
• A guide for planners to determine in advance of a pandemic whether local shuttered hospitals could be used to increase surge capacity. Reopening Shuttered Hospitals to Expand Surge Capacity includes a detailed checklist to use during site inspections.
• The Rocky Mountain Regional Care Model for Bioterrorist Events, which helps State and local officials equip and staff alternate health care sites. An Alternate Care Site Selection computer tool rates various sites for alternative health care based on user input.
• Hospital Surge Model. A computer modeling tool that estimates the resources needed in hospitals to treat casualties from biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological events. Estimates the number of casualties and needed hospital resources for each scenario.
• The recommendations in Pediatric Hospital Surge Capacity in Public Health Emergencies can help clinicians and hospital administrators develop unique responses to mass casualty events involving children.
• An introductory guide for the home health care industry to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. Home Health Care During an Influenza Pandemic: Issues and Resources lists more than two dozen resources for home health care agency preparedness.

Current as of April 2009