Re: USA: States prepare for flu pandemic

[Guest guest]

In einer eMail vom 17.12.2006 05:18:08 Westeuropäische Normalzeit schreibt jackalope_lepus@...:

I am sure that we are in big trouble

how can you be sure, when the experts say: "no one knows..."

I think, most experts would agree that it's more likely that there

will be no pandemic next year than that there will be one.

Although, they usually avoid answering such questions directly.

I think, it's 10%-20% probability per year what the average

experts think.

[Guest guest]

I don't think that history has a sense of irony.

It's man who wants to see magical connections and coincidences

everywhere.

The last two pandemics were somehow special, with the reassortments.

The 1918 was special wrt. virulence.

And the current situation is special with the birds and the technological

advances and increase in population of people,chicken and swine in China.

I don't feel that it's just "3 pandemics per century", it's special now.

[Guest guest]

I live in the capitol of Illinois and I have not heard a word about

any drills or preps at all! I have contacted the mayor and the health

department who put me through to the person in charge of planning for the

pandemic and I asked her to send me all of the info she could on our community’s

plan of action. She sent me a booklet about surviving disasters which made no

mention of pandemic or even epidemic illnesses. Inside were two pages printed

from Pandemicflu.gov advising the two-week prep! I think we are in big trouble.

I am trying to decide what the best way to motivate my community will be. This

is not acceptable at all! L Tamarin

From: Flu [mailto:Flu ] On Behalf Of Lee

Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006

5:53 PM

Flu

Subject: [Flu] USA: States

prepare for flu pandemic

Steps some states have taken to prepare for flu

pandemic

By The Associated Press | December 16, 2006

Some steps that states have taken to prepare for a flu pandemic:

ALABAMA

State purchased 900 cots, with plans for 250 more, that could be set

up in churches or school gyms. Education officials working with

Alabama Public Television to try to show classes on television if

schools are closed.

ALASKA

In Ketchikan,

health workers rehearsed how to set up an alternative

care site when hospitals overflow. Other drills assume the state will

hear there is a pandemic on the TV news, amid a panicked public,

before getting official word from the government.

ARIZONA

State urging counties to work with schools and churches on plans to

minimize public gatherings during a pandemic, such as holding small

worship services several times a week instead of a big one on Sunday.

ARKANSAS

Considering drive-through vaccination clinics.

CALIFORNIA

State has budgeted nearly $70 million to purchase supplies for

alternative-care sites and $18 million for three 200-bed mobile field

hospitals. Held a first-of-its-kind pandemic drill bringing health

care, business, community and religious-based organizations together.

COLORADO

Trailers parked around the state hold 6,500 extra beds for creating

emergency clinics. Next year's focus will be on recruiting health

volunteers who would come staff them.

CONNECTICUT

Hospitals would become intensive care units for the flu, moving other

patients out and canceling elective surgeries. Airport and health

officials joined in a drill last summer to practice how they would

react if a plane landed carrying the first U.S. cases of pandemic flu.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Nation's capital is piloting a program to mine the Medicaid database

to locate vulnerable citizens, such as the homebound elderly, who

might need special attention during a pandemic.

DELAWARE

State has set up a medical reserve corps. Drills have pointed to such

issues as quarantine laws and whether funeral homes have enough

storage capacity for the dead that still need addressing.

FLORIDA

State is working on where and how to store supplies such as protective

masks before beginning stockpile purchases and soon will begin public

education campaign on how consumers can prepare.

GEORGIA

State is working on uniformity of communities' " social distancing "

plans, worried that one city might close theaters only to see

consumers head for the movies in the suburbs.

HAWAII

Maui held a mock drive-thru clinic, to let

health workers practice

triaging " sick " volunteers. State is planning on a shelter

specifically for people with special health-care needs and trying to

develop a buddy system to ensure someone checks on those with

developmental disabilities.

IDAHO

Drills where workers handed out M & Ms in place of Tamiflu and practiced

mass vaccination pointed out both a shortage of nurses and the need

for bathrooms for the waiting crowds.

ILLINOIS

Statewide drills identified planning gaps, now being addressed, that

include how to get prompt and accurate information to an anxious public.

INDIANA

Advisory groups that include not just health officials but lawyers

from the American Civil Liberties Union and parents are helping inform

policies on how the state would ration scarce drugs and vaccine.

Nearly 10,000 people have attended town-hall meetings on pandemic

preparedness this year.

IOWA

State has distributed nearly 150,000 guidebooks with consumer-friendly

preparation information.

KANSAS

A weeklong drill allowed 30 counties, plus businesses, schools, state

agencies and charities, to practice mass vaccination and other steps.

KENTUCKY

State health office created a grassroots network for contacting

contact the disabled and other particularly vulnerable populations

during a pandemic or other emergency. It was recognized by federal

health officials as a model program.

LOUISIANA

Hospital crowding will be worsened given the hospital closures in wake

of Hurricane Katrina. State considering expanded visiting hours so

relatives can pitch in with some patient care, bringing in retired

health workers.

MARYLAND

State assembled a task force to bring businesses into pandemic

planning, including how the state will keep critical infrastructure

such as water, power and transportation available.

MAINE

State would use schools, armories and motels for overflow hospital

patients. The state's health chief met with the two largest

supermarket chains to discuss how to make sure food supplies are not

choked off.

MASSACHUSETTS

State would set up " influenza specialty care units " to handle about

5,000 patients once regular hospitals are full.

MICHIGAN

Ice storms have provided real-world practice of how to get care to

vulnerable populations such as the homebound elderly. About 90 other

pandemic drills over the past year and a half showed the importance of

little things like using walkie-talkies in case phone service is cut.

MINNESOTA

Three major drills, including one involving 10,000 people, gave M & Ms

to volunteers as practice for dispensing Tamiflu. The entire state has

just 700 ventilators, and while there are plans to buy 300 more, the

health department has begun talking with doctors about how they would

make the difficult choices of who will get that care.

MISSISSIPPI

State has identified about 1,400 volunteers to help with mass

vaccinations.

MISSOURI

Officials are discussing the appropriate chain of command for closing

schools, malls or businesses, so there is statewide consistency.

MONTANA

More than 6,300 people in Billings

received flu shots in one day

during a mass vaccination drill.

NEBRASKA

State led efforts to form the Mid-America Alliance -- with Kansas,

Iowa, Montana,

Utah, North and South

Dakota, Missouri, Colorado and

Wyoming --

that will share resources and expertise during a public

health emergency such as a pandemic.

NEVADA

The state stockpiled a little Tamiflu using federal dollars, but its

local health districts were not interested in buying more, saying the

money was better spent on other supplies. Las

Vegas poses a special

challenge in predicting health needs, with such a large population of

long-term hotel visitors.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

State will address legal authority surrounding quarantines in

legislation next year and plans a full-scale drill with neighboring

states and Canada

in the next year.

NEW JERSEY

State is debating whether to expand on current federal guidelines

about rationing scarce drugs not just to the sick but as protection

for such essential workers as grocery truck drivers. State has put

together a 211 phone system, similar to the 911 emergency number, that

would have trained staff answering pandemic questions from the public.

NEW MEXICO

State is working closely with 22 American Indian tribes to integrate

surrounding communities' plans.

NEW YORK

A pandemic drill involving 1,400 people from eight counties revealed

some still unanswered questions, such as confusion over who closes

schools. State stockpiles include 4.5 million protective masks.

NORTH CAROLINA

In addition to a statewide pandemic drill, health leaders called a

summit with leading businesses to discuss meshing state and corporate

plans -- including suggestions to keep certain employees at work for

long stretches so they would have fewer off-hours opportunities to

catch the flu.

NORTH DAKOTA

State's goal is to have " very robust plans " completed by August.

Among

the plans are alternate care facilities, a step below hospitalization,

to basically keep the ill fed, clean and hydrated.

OHIO

State gives regional health authorities the ability to open MASH-style

emergency clinics to handle hospital overflow.

OKLAHOMA

Mass vaccination drills have the goal of inoculating 400 people in an

hour.

OREGON

State had a full-scale rehearsal of how to receive, store and dispense

to far-flung rural areas drugs and other supplies flown in from the

federal government's stockpile.

PENNSYLVANIA

State has begun talking to employers about sick policies so infectious

workers stay home, and may enlist religious-based organizations to

help care for such vulnerable populations as the homebound elderly

during a pandemic.

RHODE ISLAND

Each hospital has been asked to plan for up to three alternate care

sites to handle patient overflow.

SOUTH CAROLINA

State working with public television to hold a documentary on pandemic

influenza, and produce pocket flu guides, to educate the public about

individual preparedness.

SOUTH DAKOTA

State has delivered protective equipment for health workers to hospitals.

TENNESSEE

Pandemic drills are planned for next year. The state is among those

still undecided on how much Tamiflu to try to stockpile.

TEXAS

State operates a network to connect 13,000 doctors with public health

announcements by e-mail, phone or fax. Dallas'

plans to replace ill

workers include the possibility of training librarians as temporary

911 operators.

UTAH

State is still finalizing its plan, with a governor's task force that

began meeting monthly in September and full drill tentatively

scheduled for next summer.

VERMONT

Health officials in discussions with universities, other entities that

have large kitchen facilities that might be used to help feed

vulnerable populations.

VIRGINIA

A statewide drill identified gaps including how to store bodies and

when localities should close schools. State has established a call

center where health workers would provide information to the public

during a pandemic.

WASHINGTON

State would reserve hospitals for the sickest, and treat others at

schools and fairgrounds. Drive-thru flu shots showed if that were used

during a pandemic, officials would need people to direct traffic.

WEST VIRGINIA

State still putting final draft of its plans to paper. Among the ideas

is to enlist church nursing programs around the state to beef up

supplies of health workers.

WISCONSIN

First statewide drill exposed gaps ranging from businesses that

haven't done any planning to the state's still evolving plans on how

to ration scarce drugs and vaccine.

WYOMING

State recently joined Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas

in a regional

drill. It is establishing a system to track school absenteeism, part

of statewide monitoring for the first signs of flu outbreaks.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/12/16/steps_some_states_have_taken_to_prepare_for_/

[Guest guest]

I am sure that we are in big trouble. And Laurie Garrett said that

she rang the alarm solely for the purpose of saying " I told you so, "

after the pandemic was over. It's the old story: those who do not

learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

You really should email the mayor an article from our Site Files on

mass burials. Ask the mayor what he intends to do when the local

hospitals and morgues become choked with the dead.

>

> I live in the capitol of Illinois and I have not heard a word about any

> drills or preps at all! I have contacted the mayor and the health

department

> who put me through to the person in charge of planning for the

pandemic and

> I asked her to send me all of the info she could on our community's

plan of

> action. She sent me a booklet about surviving disasters which made no

> mention of pandemic or even epidemic illnesses. Inside were two pages

> printed from Pandemicflu.gov advising the two-week prep! I think we

are in

> big trouble. I am trying to decide what the best way to motivate my

> community will be. This is not acceptable at all! :-( Tamari

[Guest guest]

Respectfully, I ask you, if you do not

think that there will be a pandemic, sterten, why do you monitor this site? It

seems to me if it is a non-issue for you that you would not want to waste your

time on it. I am just curious. Perhaps I have misread your posts. Perhaps you

are being sarcastic and I have not picked that up. If not, then I don’t

get why you would participate here.

As far as how I can be sure that we are in

big trouble, no one can truly predict what will happen in anything. We see

clouds and hear thunder and we are pretty sure a storm is coming. Sometimes

maybe it blows over and doesn’t happen, most of the time it comes and has

wind and rain and lightning, and occasionally it brings a tornado or hurricane.

Taking no action when we see the warning signs would be really foolish and

perhaps deadly. Wise people prepare and breathe a sigh of relief if it doesn’t

happen or is only minor and thank God that they prepared if it is catastrophic.

There is really no down-side to being prepared, is there? Personally, I believe

that this pandemic is pretty close and it will be a very catastrophic

situation. JMO. I could be wrong. If I am, I am well prepared for whatever may

come. We just went through a blizzard here and my family and I were very

grateful that we had emergency preps and did not have to go without anything

during that event. It makes life easier to know you have what you need to deal

with whatever happens. If we listen to the experts and they are wrong, as they

frequently are, we are in big trouble if it does happen.

The boy scout motto is smart advice: “Be

prepared!” Blessings! Tamarin

From: Flu [mailto:Flu ] On Behalf Of sterten@...

Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006

10:32 PM

Flu

Subject: Re: [Flu] Re: USA: States

prepare for flu pandemic

In einer eMail vom 17.12.2006 05:18:08

Westeuropäische Normalzeit schreibt jackalope_lepusHotmail:

I am sure that we are in big trouble

how can you be sure, when the

experts say: " no one knows... "

I think, most experts would agree that

it's more likely that there

will be no pandemic next year than that

there will be one.

Although, they usually avoid answering

such questions directly.

I think, it's 10%-20% probability per

year what the average

experts think.

[Guest guest]

There are an average of three flu pandemics per century. I expect

that history has a sense of irony. I expect that what will happen is

that we will all prepare for an avian flu pandemic, but then something

worse--perhaps a flu or something worse than HIV--will become the next

global pandemic. I hope that after this happens that people will take

public health seriously.