Pandemic Preparedness Staff Survey

How much would your company be impacted in the event of an avian flu pandemic? It is, of course, impossible to know with any certainty in the absence of the actual crises; however that does NOT mean that you can’t begin to anticipate what some of the problems might be.

The biggest difference in preparing for a pandemic as opposed to more common business continuity planning is that one of the biggest challenges will be the possibility of massive staff absenteeism due to personal or family illness, fear of becoming ill or of infecting family members.

How can you know how many staff might choose to stay home rather than come to work? One way to get an idea of a possible impact would be to survey all your staff now before a pandemic does occur in your area. While there are no guarantees that the responses that people give now when the concern of a pandemic is still theoretical and how they might actually respond during a real crisis, it can provide some idea of the potential disruption to your business.

Staff Survey to Estimate Potential Effects of a Pandemic on Our Organization:

The purpose of this survey is to provide information which will help in pandemic planning preparation in our organization.

NOTE: ALL INFORMATION IS CONFIDENTIAL AND NO NAMES ARE TO BE ATTACHED TO THIS SURVEY.

1. Do you take public transportation to or from work?

- Yes, all or most of the time
- Occasionally
- No, or almost never

2. If our geographic region were experiencing an avian flu pandemic, how likely would it be that you would use public transportation to get to or from work?

- Highly likely
- Somewhat likely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Highly unlikely
- Not applicable

3. Do you car pool to work?

- Yes
- Occasionally
- No

4. If our geographic region were experiencing an avian flu pandemic, how likely would it be that you would use a car pool to get to and from work?

- Highly likely
- Somewhat likely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Highly unlikely
- Not applicable

5. If schools and/or day cares were closed by order of the Medical Officer of Health because of an avian flu pandemic, would you most likely:

- Stay home to look after your children.

- Stay home to look after grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or other young relatives.
- Be able to arrange for alternate child care.
- Be unaffected by the closure of schools or day care.

6. If the Medical Officer of Health declared a medical emergency situation due to the existence of an avian flu pandemic, how likely do you think it would be that you would come to work?

- Highly likely
- Somewhat likely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Highly unlikely

7. If someone in your family other than yourself were ill with the avian flu during a declared pandemic, how likely do you think it would be that you would come to work?

- Highly likely
- Somewhat likely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Highly unlikely

8. If you knew that a work colleague had a family member at home who had been diagnosed with avian flu, how likely would it be that you would come to work?

- Highly likely
- Somewhat likely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Highly unlikely

9. Do you think that coming into contact with the avian flu virus would present a higher risk to you than it would to the majority of your colleagues?

- Yes
- No
- Not sure

10. Do you think that you have sufficient information to protect yourself and your family from an avian flu?

- I think I have sufficient information to protect myself and my family in the event of an avian flu pandemic.
- I don’t have sufficient information on how to protect my self and my family in the event of an avian flu pandemic.
- I don’t know if I have enough information to protect myself and my family in the event of an avian flu pandemic

11. Has your organization done enough to provide information to staff about organizational preparedness in the event of an avian flu pandemic?

- My organization has done an excellent job in providing information to everyone.
- My organization has provided some information on planning for an avian flu pandemic.
- I am not aware of anything my organization has done with respect to planning for an avian flu pandemic.

For more information on Pandemic planning from a business continuity perspective, please feel free to contact Pitsel & Associates Ltd. Calgary, Alberta (403) 245-0550. "The time to plan, is when you have time to plan."

Does the flu shot do more harm than good?

Connie Howard from the VueWeekly, an Edmonton Independent news and weekly columnist says we should be taking the available vaccination programs with a pinch of salt.

One of the things to consider, is Thimerosol which is a mercury derivative primarily used as a preservative in vaccines. The only thing to keep in mind though, is the toxicity of mercury to our brains. It is no longer used in childhood vaccines in Canada, but still used in flu vaccines, because adult brains are less susceptible to toxicity than developing ones.

Connie reminds us to consider the whole efficacy debate around the flu vaccine. Health officials make educated guesses about which flu strains are most likely to appear the following year. Based on their information, the efficacy in groups most recommended for the shots is 30 to 40 percent. The irony is that pneumonia and flu hospitalization rates for those in the high-risk category (newborns and the elderly) are less than one percent during flu season.

This seems to indicate a gap between flu prevention policy and evidence of efficacy and safety. Some of you may be aware that the flu medicine called Tamiflu, is being stockpiled like mad in the event of a bird flu outbreak. Although experts have questioned its efficacy, other flu medicines just don’t seem to rake in the same big profits.

Source:

VueWeekly, Edmonton’s 100% Independent news an Entertainment Weekly (2006). Well, well, well (Electronic version). Retrieved November 23, 2006 http://www.vueweekly.com/articles/default.asp


For additional information on Pandemic preparedness from a business continuity perspective, please feel free to contact Pitsel & Associates Ltd. Calgary, Alberta, (403) 245-0550. “The time to plan is when you have time to plan.”

Latest information on the situation in Indonesia – November 2006 update

According to WHO (World Health Organization), the Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed an additional two cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

A 35-year old woman from Tangerang in the Banten province developed symptoms on 7 November and was taken up in hospital 3 days later. She remains hospitalized while her source of exposure is under investigation.

The second case is that of a 30-year old man from Karawang in the West Java province. His symptoms developed on 5 November and he was hospitalized on 10 November and died three days later.

An initial investigation about the source of exposure showed reports of chicken deaths near his home in the days before his symptom onset.

Of the 74 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 56 have been fatal.

Source:

World Health Organization: Epidemic and Pandemic Alert Response (ERP) (2006). Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia – update 37 (Electronic version). Retrieved November 23, 2006 http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_11_13/en/index.html


For additional information on Pandemic preparedness from a business continuity perspective, please feel free to contact Pitsel & Associates Ltd. Calgary, Alberta, (403) 245-0550. “The time to plan is when you have time to plan.”

Who gets the vaccine?

When (and not “if”) a flu pandemic strikes, one of the most critical issues will involve the medical ethics of providing scare resources to the community. Hospitals and Health Regions across North America are having conversations on the guidelines to follow in delivering a scarce treatment such as a vaccine, or respirators to people who are hospitalized. Who should be first in line? Who decides this?

The following is an article from StarNewsonline.com – an online newspaper serving South Carolina.

N.C. panel prepares for morals of flu pandemic Associated PressRaleigh With a flu pandemic inevitable, North Carolina's medical professionals must prepare now for what could be wrenching moral decisions about who will be treated and who won't if the illness overwhelms hospital resources, members of a state task force said. The Task Force on Ethics and Pandemic Influenza Planning met recently to discuss a strong set of ethical guidelines for the state's doctors and nurses in the event of a global outbreak of a new and more virulent strain of flu virus. The list would help them decide who gets priority for medical care in the face of a wave of flu-stricken patients that would rapidly outstrip the supply of hospital beds, medicine and equipment."

It's going to exceed our capacity," Philip Rosoff, director of clinical ethics at Duke Hospital, said during a four-hour meeting of the task force Monday. "The more stringent and robust our guidelines are, the less chance there is for decisions being made for arbitrary and morally unjustifiable reasons. "Medical authorities say the next flu pandemic is long overdue and inevitable, based on the history of three deadly outbreaks in the 20th century: the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19, which killed 50 million to 100 million people worldwide; the Asian flu pandemic of 1957; and the Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968.Hospitals across North Carolina are already at 85 percent to 90 percent capacity, and even a mild pandemic would force doctors and nurses to ration medicine and equipment.

The 40-member task force, a joint project of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and the state Division of Public Health that began meeting in May, wrestled with the wisdom of giving children priority for scarce anti-viral drugs and vaccines.They also worried whether their guidelines would cut off the poor and disadvantaged, or Hispanic immigrants.They debated a scenario involving three gravely ill patients - a 10-year-old with a 30 percent chance of survival, a 40-year-old doctor with a 25 percent chance and a 65-year-old retiree with a 10 percent chance - whom all needed the only ventilator available to help them breathe."

Let's say I've got a hospital full of 85-year-olds on ventilators and I've got a 20-year-old who needs a ventilator: Do I take an 85-year-old off and give it to the 20-year-old?" Rosoff asked. The task force settled on two broad guidelines for rationing vaccines, anti-viral drugs and medical equipment during a flu pandemic. The first is to assure that crucial functions of society aren't disrupted. That means giving priority for vaccines and anti-viral medication to health care workers, police, firefighters and employees of critical industries such as utilities. The second is to reduce the number of deaths and infections and prevent the spread of the illness. The panel is due to issue a report in the spring.

In earlier meetings, members had discussed the responsibility of doctors and nurses to provide care during a pandemic, along with a hospital's responsibility to make sure those workers are safe, properly trained to handle unfamiliar tasks and paid for service during a crisis. The panel also has drafted recommendations about the movement of people during a pandemic, including the use of quarantine and the closing of schools, churches and other mass gatherings. Leaders of the task force have so far resisted issuing strict directives. But John Morrow, health director for Pitt County, called for a more direct approach."We're up here at 30,000 feet making these broad, philosophical statements, but nobody's going to read a paper like that," he said. "We've got folks with 100 doses of vaccine and everybody wants it, and we've got to give them specific guidelines on who gets it and why."





For additional information on Pandemic preparedness from a business continuity perspective, please feel free to contact Pitsel & Associates Ltd. Calgary, Alberta, (403) 245-0550. “The time to plan is when you have time to plan.”