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Draft plan looks ahead to pandemic flu crisis
Article published on Thursday, November 20th, 2008
By By ELIZABETH CALDWEL
Mirror Writer
The Kodiak Island Borough is considering strategies on how to cope if Kodiak is hit with an influenza pandemic.
A strategic draft report is currently circulating among community officials and may be annexed to the borough?s emergency operation plan after review.
Duane Dvorak, associate planner of community development for the borough, said the borough decided to pursue the plan as part of the national post-Sept. 11 focus on terrorism prevention.
?Over time, there?s been a greater realization that there are other threats out there. The health of communities is also at risk,? Dvorak said. ?More and more people are realizing it?s just a matter of time until we have another global pandemic.?
A pandemic differs from an epidemic in severity and frequency. Epidemics typically occur yearly and cause about 36,000 deaths. Pandemics occur sporadically with a death toll in the hundreds of thousands.
There have been three influenza pandemics in the 20th century. Pandemics occur when a major change in the structure of a strain of flu takes place, making most of the world?s population susceptible. The first, in 1918, caused 50 million deaths worldwide. It occurred when flu strains moved from birds to humans. Two more happened in 1957 and 1968, caused by new flu strains that combined with old strains.
The city, the borough and the local health community collaborated for two years to form the plan, which has several sections addressing preparedness and response actions, including vaccine distribution and the protocol Kodiakans should follow to prevent spreading infection.
According to the plan, a network to distribute vaccines and antiviral medication as quickly as possible will be put in place during a pandemic. But, supplies may not be available to everyone.
Dvorak said vaccine will inevitably be scarce, so priority groups may have to be established. Essential workers, like medical staff, may be vaccinated first. However, firm details are still pending during the plan?s review period.
?The plan is a first cut at trying to establish those kinds of priorities,? Dvorak said. ?Until we actually have an annex, those are speculative approaches.?
Infection control measures also may be implemented for citizens, including isolation and quarantine. Dvorak said planning for population support differs significantly from typical disaster preparedness, where residents are usually advised to shelter together in community buildings.
?In the case of an influenza pandemic, you don?t want people getting together,? Dvorak said.
The plan calls it ?social distancing.? Essentially, in a pandemic, Kodiakans would be directed to stay at home. Schools, churches and other gathering places may close.
Kodiak residents should keep abreast of the quarantine directives and follow them in the time of a pandemic, according to the annex.
Compliance is especially important in Kodiak, where remote living increases vulnerability.
?Due to the remoteness and relatively small population, we are writing this plan with the assumption that we can expect little to no help from the outside world,? reads the plan.
It will take one to six months from the time a pandemic is identified to the time the first outbreak occurs in Alaska, Dvorak said. A global pandemic could last more than a year.
The plan doesn?t address how local businesses will continue to operate during a pandemic.
?But they?re going to have to figure out how to carry on in an extreme absenteeism scenario,? he said.
Officials will meet to discuss the plan in the coming months. Dvorak said the borough?s emergency services council may meet in early to mid-January.
Draft plan looks ahead to pandemic flu crisis
Article published on Thursday, November 20th, 2008
By By ELIZABETH CALDWEL
Mirror Writer
The Kodiak Island Borough is considering strategies on how to cope if Kodiak is hit with an influenza pandemic.
A strategic draft report is currently circulating among community officials and may be annexed to the borough?s emergency operation plan after review.
Duane Dvorak, associate planner of community development for the borough, said the borough decided to pursue the plan as part of the national post-Sept. 11 focus on terrorism prevention.
?Over time, there?s been a greater realization that there are other threats out there. The health of communities is also at risk,? Dvorak said. ?More and more people are realizing it?s just a matter of time until we have another global pandemic.?
A pandemic differs from an epidemic in severity and frequency. Epidemics typically occur yearly and cause about 36,000 deaths. Pandemics occur sporadically with a death toll in the hundreds of thousands.
There have been three influenza pandemics in the 20th century. Pandemics occur when a major change in the structure of a strain of flu takes place, making most of the world?s population susceptible. The first, in 1918, caused 50 million deaths worldwide. It occurred when flu strains moved from birds to humans. Two more happened in 1957 and 1968, caused by new flu strains that combined with old strains.
The city, the borough and the local health community collaborated for two years to form the plan, which has several sections addressing preparedness and response actions, including vaccine distribution and the protocol Kodiakans should follow to prevent spreading infection.
According to the plan, a network to distribute vaccines and antiviral medication as quickly as possible will be put in place during a pandemic. But, supplies may not be available to everyone.
Dvorak said vaccine will inevitably be scarce, so priority groups may have to be established. Essential workers, like medical staff, may be vaccinated first. However, firm details are still pending during the plan?s review period.
?The plan is a first cut at trying to establish those kinds of priorities,? Dvorak said. ?Until we actually have an annex, those are speculative approaches.?
Infection control measures also may be implemented for citizens, including isolation and quarantine. Dvorak said planning for population support differs significantly from typical disaster preparedness, where residents are usually advised to shelter together in community buildings.
?In the case of an influenza pandemic, you don?t want people getting together,? Dvorak said.
The plan calls it ?social distancing.? Essentially, in a pandemic, Kodiakans would be directed to stay at home. Schools, churches and other gathering places may close.
Kodiak residents should keep abreast of the quarantine directives and follow them in the time of a pandemic, according to the annex.
Compliance is especially important in Kodiak, where remote living increases vulnerability.
?Due to the remoteness and relatively small population, we are writing this plan with the assumption that we can expect little to no help from the outside world,? reads the plan.
It will take one to six months from the time a pandemic is identified to the time the first outbreak occurs in Alaska, Dvorak said. A global pandemic could last more than a year.
The plan doesn?t address how local businesses will continue to operate during a pandemic.
?But they?re going to have to figure out how to carry on in an extreme absenteeism scenario,? he said.
Officials will meet to discuss the plan in the coming months. Dvorak said the borough?s emergency services council may meet in early to mid-January.
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