The pandemic may have started, but that doesn't mean that RMA has stopped trying to promote preparedness.
Last Friday, I attended the annual conference for the Central PA United Methodist Church, where 200 packets of preparedness information was handed out and folks visited our display. Hopefully, the conference attendees that visited the display will take this information back to their churches and promote pandemic awareness and preparation.
Again, some good contacts were made for further panflu promotion through future events in the Central PA area.
Last week was the Methodist Conference. This week I have two events for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. This is an 'in house' event for business continuity (ie: prepping Wyeth employees). They are having RMA attend THREE of their employee events: Collegeville, PA -- Greatville, PA -- and Cambridge Massachusetts. This week are the two Pennsylvania events. Yesterday, I attended the first of these.
I got the attention of these people. I can NOT believe how many people thought that Swine flu was OVER! And then there were others that had heard about the 2nd Pennsylvania death and that this fall may be harder. Problem is they really didn't know what 'harder' was. They did by the time I was done talking 8-) . I explained what was happening in Australia with increased school closure, how the health care system is getting overwhelmed and PPE items are scarce to nil ... to be expected here in the fall. Eyebrows raise. They start to understand.
Good tools to use:
--The red bar graph that I have on the 'Pandemic Watch: Central PA' (graphing the wave here in PA). I explain that this is what a 'first wave' looks like and that the should note that the wave has NOT peaked yet -- we are still seeing it move up, it isn't on the way down yet. THAT gets their attention and they realize there are lots of cases still occurring.
--The WHO chart. Some people do NOT realize that we are IN A PANDEMIC. I make a point of telling them in those specific words.
-- The leaked CDC Age chart. I explain that the middle longer bars are indicative of a pandemic occurrence. 'Seasonal Flu' affects the young and old. We are seeing the 'next' generation being the hardest hit, just like in 1918. Go on to explain how this virus seems to mirror the 1918 event. This is good, since we have our trifold right there with all the 1918 info (graphs, photos, etc).
People want to know: 'What do I need to do?' I tell them that they need to concentrate on the two end caps of our display: Food and Medical. Review the center of the display (Alt. cooking, electric, communications, etc.) and work on that as they can. I also make sure they understand that FEMA, ARC, etc. recommend 'minimum of two weeks' BUT, a pandemic wave lasts up to 12 weeks. Will they have enough food, if they stock 'two weeks minimum'?
People are grateful. NOT panicked. Grateful.
Next event: Tomorrow for Wyeth. Then another on Saturday. Saturday's event will be another 'Faith' event, for the United Church of Christ. I will be attending their annual Pennsylvania conference and have the ability to reach the coordinators for over 200 churches between the NY and Maryland borders, in Pennsylvania! The third Wyeth event is later, this month.
I have to say, that public education in SPECIFIC suggestions on how to prepare is crucial. These events are proving that people want to know what to DO. They want SPECIFIC instructions, not generalities. -k
Last Friday, I attended the annual conference for the Central PA United Methodist Church, where 200 packets of preparedness information was handed out and folks visited our display. Hopefully, the conference attendees that visited the display will take this information back to their churches and promote pandemic awareness and preparation.
Again, some good contacts were made for further panflu promotion through future events in the Central PA area.
Last week was the Methodist Conference. This week I have two events for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. This is an 'in house' event for business continuity (ie: prepping Wyeth employees). They are having RMA attend THREE of their employee events: Collegeville, PA -- Greatville, PA -- and Cambridge Massachusetts. This week are the two Pennsylvania events. Yesterday, I attended the first of these.
I got the attention of these people. I can NOT believe how many people thought that Swine flu was OVER! And then there were others that had heard about the 2nd Pennsylvania death and that this fall may be harder. Problem is they really didn't know what 'harder' was. They did by the time I was done talking 8-) . I explained what was happening in Australia with increased school closure, how the health care system is getting overwhelmed and PPE items are scarce to nil ... to be expected here in the fall. Eyebrows raise. They start to understand.
Good tools to use:
--The red bar graph that I have on the 'Pandemic Watch: Central PA' (graphing the wave here in PA). I explain that this is what a 'first wave' looks like and that the should note that the wave has NOT peaked yet -- we are still seeing it move up, it isn't on the way down yet. THAT gets their attention and they realize there are lots of cases still occurring.
--The WHO chart. Some people do NOT realize that we are IN A PANDEMIC. I make a point of telling them in those specific words.
-- The leaked CDC Age chart. I explain that the middle longer bars are indicative of a pandemic occurrence. 'Seasonal Flu' affects the young and old. We are seeing the 'next' generation being the hardest hit, just like in 1918. Go on to explain how this virus seems to mirror the 1918 event. This is good, since we have our trifold right there with all the 1918 info (graphs, photos, etc).
People want to know: 'What do I need to do?' I tell them that they need to concentrate on the two end caps of our display: Food and Medical. Review the center of the display (Alt. cooking, electric, communications, etc.) and work on that as they can. I also make sure they understand that FEMA, ARC, etc. recommend 'minimum of two weeks' BUT, a pandemic wave lasts up to 12 weeks. Will they have enough food, if they stock 'two weeks minimum'?
People are grateful. NOT panicked. Grateful.
Next event: Tomorrow for Wyeth. Then another on Saturday. Saturday's event will be another 'Faith' event, for the United Church of Christ. I will be attending their annual Pennsylvania conference and have the ability to reach the coordinators for over 200 churches between the NY and Maryland borders, in Pennsylvania! The third Wyeth event is later, this month.
I have to say, that public education in SPECIFIC suggestions on how to prepare is crucial. These events are proving that people want to know what to DO. They want SPECIFIC instructions, not generalities. -k
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