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Published: Thursday, September 21st, 2006
Plans to reduce the impact of a flu pandemic in Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka were released this week.
Pandemic plans for both the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the Simcoe Muskoka Health Sector Emergency Planning Committee were presented.
?These plans were mandated by the provincial government, but more importantly, they are the key to minimizing illness, death and disruption to society in what has the potential to be a major public health emergency,? Simcoe Muskoka Medical Officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner said.
International health agencies have been warning for several years the strain of avian flu currently afflicting domestic birds in many countries has the potential to change into a novel virus against which humans would have no defence. Plans are now in place at the national, provincial and local level to deal with such a pandemic.
Jane Sinclair, general manager of Health and Cultural Services for the County of Simcoe, said the plan brings together more than 45 health and emergency-related agencies in a wide ranging strategy that not only treats the sick, but reaches out to vulnerable populations, prepares businesses to keep the local economy running and readies the community.
?The Health Sector Emergency Planning Committee has been called together in the past, but this exercise was remarkable in its scope,? Sinclair stated. ?This plan links together health and emergency response services across Simcoe and Muskoka, so there is a unified, integrated defence against a pandemic.?
The plans also echo much of the emergency response systems that have been in place at the municipal level, said Don Currie, the Community Emergency Management Co-ordinator at the District of Muskoka.
?We have been able to use our emergency plans very effectively in the aftermath of storms and other events in Muskoka,? Currie said.
?The pandemic plan now gives us the tools to respond to an even larger emergency that could affect the entire population.?
The health unit will take the lead role in responding to a pandemic, Dr. Gardner stated. The health unit?s plan deals with such functions as monitoring the progress and nature of the disease; distributing and administering vaccines and guiding emergency response for much larger than average incidence of illness.
Public health measures are designed to reduce people?s exposure to the new virus and reduce the spread of disease, through actions that could range from public education to closure of schools and restricting public gatherings.
The Simcoe Muskoka health sector plan tackles the enormous challenges of caring for large numbers of sick people, managing social services and helping business cope with the impact of a reduced workforce.
?This health sector plan was a huge undertaking, brought together in under a year,? Dr. Gardner noted. ?It?s also quite groundbreaking in that it required collaboration between municipal and health agencies in Simcoe and Muskoka that normally don?t work so closely together. I feel that collaboration was very successful.?
Copies of the plans and more information about local pandemic preparations can be found by clicking Health .
The Simcoe Muskoka health sector pandemic plan has been posted to County .
Plans to reduce the impact of a flu pandemic in Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka were released this week.
Pandemic plans for both the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the Simcoe Muskoka Health Sector Emergency Planning Committee were presented.
?These plans were mandated by the provincial government, but more importantly, they are the key to minimizing illness, death and disruption to society in what has the potential to be a major public health emergency,? Simcoe Muskoka Medical Officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner said.
International health agencies have been warning for several years the strain of avian flu currently afflicting domestic birds in many countries has the potential to change into a novel virus against which humans would have no defence. Plans are now in place at the national, provincial and local level to deal with such a pandemic.
Jane Sinclair, general manager of Health and Cultural Services for the County of Simcoe, said the plan brings together more than 45 health and emergency-related agencies in a wide ranging strategy that not only treats the sick, but reaches out to vulnerable populations, prepares businesses to keep the local economy running and readies the community.
?The Health Sector Emergency Planning Committee has been called together in the past, but this exercise was remarkable in its scope,? Sinclair stated. ?This plan links together health and emergency response services across Simcoe and Muskoka, so there is a unified, integrated defence against a pandemic.?
The plans also echo much of the emergency response systems that have been in place at the municipal level, said Don Currie, the Community Emergency Management Co-ordinator at the District of Muskoka.
?We have been able to use our emergency plans very effectively in the aftermath of storms and other events in Muskoka,? Currie said.
?The pandemic plan now gives us the tools to respond to an even larger emergency that could affect the entire population.?
The health unit will take the lead role in responding to a pandemic, Dr. Gardner stated. The health unit?s plan deals with such functions as monitoring the progress and nature of the disease; distributing and administering vaccines and guiding emergency response for much larger than average incidence of illness.
Public health measures are designed to reduce people?s exposure to the new virus and reduce the spread of disease, through actions that could range from public education to closure of schools and restricting public gatherings.
The Simcoe Muskoka health sector plan tackles the enormous challenges of caring for large numbers of sick people, managing social services and helping business cope with the impact of a reduced workforce.
?This health sector plan was a huge undertaking, brought together in under a year,? Dr. Gardner noted. ?It?s also quite groundbreaking in that it required collaboration between municipal and health agencies in Simcoe and Muskoka that normally don?t work so closely together. I feel that collaboration was very successful.?
Copies of the plans and more information about local pandemic preparations can be found by clicking Health .
The Simcoe Muskoka health sector pandemic plan has been posted to County .
