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Douglas, AZ - County readies for flu preparedness plan
County readies for flu preparedness plan
By Shar Porier/Wick News Service
BISBEE - What if the county sheriff's office or the fire department was hit by a flu bug that took half of the emergency personnel out of action? What would happen to people in need of the services they provide?
Vaira Harik, county heath department director, and Mike Evans, emergency services coordinator, were tasked with developing a plan that would alleviate the problems inherent in a pandemic flu outbreak.
The Center for Disease Control required all states to develop a preparedness plan for biological threats, chemical threats and radiological threats. Such problems don't have to be an act of terrorism, particularly when it comes to bacteria and viruses that float around all the time. The bird flu is a good example of an opportunistic voyager that made its way from East Asia to the British Isles possibly aboard migrating winged carriers recently.
Is there a chance that it could reach U.S. soil? Of course, particularly because much of the country lies in migration routes. Is Arizona at risk? Possibly.
Such was the discussion Monday afternoon between the county Board of Supervisors and heath and emergency services staff at a work session.
Harik told board members Paul Newman and Richard Searle that the department had written a plan that directs the response of the county to an influenza outbreak and that it was approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
In the plan, characteristics of a pandemic are considered, such as the impact to communities across the U.S. which would not only affect and possibly overwhelm hospital and medical services, but could cause serious implications in transportation, utilities and even commerce as people too sick to work stay home.
Because providing enough vaccine for everyone is an insurmountable problem, it has a short shelf-life and takes months to manufacture, effort on early diagnosis is going to be the main thrust of any effort to combat such an illness, Harik said.
"Enhancing existing influenza surveillance networks can lead to earlier detection of a pandemic virus or one with pandemic potential. Virus identification and generation of seed viruses for vaccine production is the critical first step for influenza vaccine development," wrote Elizabeth Lueck, health department, in the plan.
The 40-page plan, available on the county Web site, addresses concerns the Center for Disease Control recommends from opening an emergency operations center to procuring anti-viral drugs.
Harik noted that the recent salmonella outbreak in Sierra Vista has created just such a reporting network as physicians and hospitals forward information on to the health department.
Because that step of networking is already in place, a consistently active viral infection could be quickly identified and vaccine developed and produced within six months.
But what happens for those six months?
Quarantine and isolation were two of the terms used. The department of health could declare a quarantine of an area, a city or the whole county once the plan is adopted. Though that may help mitigate an epidemic, it does not address the impact on services and business that would accompany such a move.
Reliance on outside assistance would be inevitable in a worst-case scenario. The board of supervisors could declare a local emergency or the governor could declare a state of emergency.
With children out of school, employees at home sick, parents at home with sick children, the economy of a community could be at risk if steps are not taken to ensure the wheels keep turning.
To combat the problems arising from fewer employees on the job, a continuity of operations plan (COOP) had to be devised to add to the pandemic plan of action.
Evans ran a brief explanation of the plan he borrowed from the state of Massachusetts that the board of supervisors could adapt to the county.
"You can count on 40 percent of the work force as no shows during a pandemic. They'll be at home caring for themselves, their children or other family members. That means the work force will be severely depleted. Each wave of the pandemic hits at about six-month intervals, the whole thing could last up to two years before dying down," he warned.
He told the supervisors that each department of the county needs to devise a staff contingency plan to handle the absenteeism that could occur. Another need to be considered is the psychological effects a devastating disease can have on workers.
"The plan provides a defined structure or action plan to react to and call in resources needed to deal with such a circumstance. for instance, there may be a limited number of vaccine doses. The government has specified that the vaccine should go to 20- to 45-year-olds," said Evans. "Civilian control is going to be difficult. We'll all have to live by mandates and work closely with law enforcement to handle any situation that may get out of hand."
The plan still has to be reviewed by the county administrator, Jody Klein, and the deputy county attorney Britt Hansen before going to the supervisors for approval. Harik does not expect to have it ready for review by the supervisors until July.
In the meantime, the health department is keeping a close watch on the sand hill cranes for any sign of avian flu.
"We are in an active state of monitoring the cranes. There is active disease surveillance from medical practitioners to keep up with data," Harik said.
By Shar Porier/Wick News Service
BISBEE - What if the county sheriff's office or the fire department was hit by a flu bug that took half of the emergency personnel out of action? What would happen to people in need of the services they provide?
Vaira Harik, county heath department director, and Mike Evans, emergency services coordinator, were tasked with developing a plan that would alleviate the problems inherent in a pandemic flu outbreak.
The Center for Disease Control required all states to develop a preparedness plan for biological threats, chemical threats and radiological threats. Such problems don't have to be an act of terrorism, particularly when it comes to bacteria and viruses that float around all the time. The bird flu is a good example of an opportunistic voyager that made its way from East Asia to the British Isles possibly aboard migrating winged carriers recently.
Is there a chance that it could reach U.S. soil? Of course, particularly because much of the country lies in migration routes. Is Arizona at risk? Possibly.
Such was the discussion Monday afternoon between the county Board of Supervisors and heath and emergency services staff at a work session.
Harik told board members Paul Newman and Richard Searle that the department had written a plan that directs the response of the county to an influenza outbreak and that it was approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
In the plan, characteristics of a pandemic are considered, such as the impact to communities across the U.S. which would not only affect and possibly overwhelm hospital and medical services, but could cause serious implications in transportation, utilities and even commerce as people too sick to work stay home.
Because providing enough vaccine for everyone is an insurmountable problem, it has a short shelf-life and takes months to manufacture, effort on early diagnosis is going to be the main thrust of any effort to combat such an illness, Harik said.
"Enhancing existing influenza surveillance networks can lead to earlier detection of a pandemic virus or one with pandemic potential. Virus identification and generation of seed viruses for vaccine production is the critical first step for influenza vaccine development," wrote Elizabeth Lueck, health department, in the plan.
The 40-page plan, available on the county Web site, addresses concerns the Center for Disease Control recommends from opening an emergency operations center to procuring anti-viral drugs.
Harik noted that the recent salmonella outbreak in Sierra Vista has created just such a reporting network as physicians and hospitals forward information on to the health department.
Because that step of networking is already in place, a consistently active viral infection could be quickly identified and vaccine developed and produced within six months.
But what happens for those six months?
Quarantine and isolation were two of the terms used. The department of health could declare a quarantine of an area, a city or the whole county once the plan is adopted. Though that may help mitigate an epidemic, it does not address the impact on services and business that would accompany such a move.
Reliance on outside assistance would be inevitable in a worst-case scenario. The board of supervisors could declare a local emergency or the governor could declare a state of emergency.
With children out of school, employees at home sick, parents at home with sick children, the economy of a community could be at risk if steps are not taken to ensure the wheels keep turning.
To combat the problems arising from fewer employees on the job, a continuity of operations plan (COOP) had to be devised to add to the pandemic plan of action.
Evans ran a brief explanation of the plan he borrowed from the state of Massachusetts that the board of supervisors could adapt to the county.
"You can count on 40 percent of the work force as no shows during a pandemic. They'll be at home caring for themselves, their children or other family members. That means the work force will be severely depleted. Each wave of the pandemic hits at about six-month intervals, the whole thing could last up to two years before dying down," he warned.
He told the supervisors that each department of the county needs to devise a staff contingency plan to handle the absenteeism that could occur. Another need to be considered is the psychological effects a devastating disease can have on workers.
"The plan provides a defined structure or action plan to react to and call in resources needed to deal with such a circumstance. for instance, there may be a limited number of vaccine doses. The government has specified that the vaccine should go to 20- to 45-year-olds," said Evans. "Civilian control is going to be difficult. We'll all have to live by mandates and work closely with law enforcement to handle any situation that may get out of hand."
The plan still has to be reviewed by the county administrator, Jody Klein, and the deputy county attorney Britt Hansen before going to the supervisors for approval. Harik does not expect to have it ready for review by the supervisors until July.
In the meantime, the health department is keeping a close watch on the sand hill cranes for any sign of avian flu.
"We are in an active state of monitoring the cranes. There is active disease surveillance from medical practitioners to keep up with data," Harik said.
