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Source: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.../80428006/1003
New planning guide helps firms prepare for flu outbreaks
DEMOCRAT STAFF REPORT
? April 28, 2008
State agricultural officials have developed a planning guide to help small businesses prepare for and respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak, an emergency situation that would likely disrupt food production, health care and other critical services.
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"It is vital that businesses, especially ones involved in the production or delivery of food, have a plan so they can continue operating and feeding our citizens during a pandemic flu outbreak or an emergency of any kind," said Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson in making the announcement.
The "Pandemic Influenza Agriculture Planning Toolkit" is a 28-page guide that covers various steps in planning and responding to such an outbreak, including accounting for the whereabouts of employees, storing emergency supplies and establishing communications with key contacts. Copies can be obtained at the department's Web site, http://www.doacs.state.fl.us.
"We developed this guidebook because it occurred to us at recent workshops that most small agribusinesses lack the financial resources or personnel to develop preparedness plans of their own, despite the critical role they play in the production and delivery of our food supply," Bronson said.
Pandemic influenza is a global disease outbreak in which a new flu virus emerges, one against which people have little, if any, immunity and one for which there is no vaccine. As the disease spreads quickly from person to person, emergency management experts say, such a disease would cause mass absenteeism, strain a nation's health-care system and disrupt untold vital services.
New planning guide helps firms prepare for flu outbreaks
DEMOCRAT STAFF REPORT
? April 28, 2008
State agricultural officials have developed a planning guide to help small businesses prepare for and respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak, an emergency situation that would likely disrupt food production, health care and other critical services.
Advertisement
"It is vital that businesses, especially ones involved in the production or delivery of food, have a plan so they can continue operating and feeding our citizens during a pandemic flu outbreak or an emergency of any kind," said Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson in making the announcement.
The "Pandemic Influenza Agriculture Planning Toolkit" is a 28-page guide that covers various steps in planning and responding to such an outbreak, including accounting for the whereabouts of employees, storing emergency supplies and establishing communications with key contacts. Copies can be obtained at the department's Web site, http://www.doacs.state.fl.us.
"We developed this guidebook because it occurred to us at recent workshops that most small agribusinesses lack the financial resources or personnel to develop preparedness plans of their own, despite the critical role they play in the production and delivery of our food supply," Bronson said.
Pandemic influenza is a global disease outbreak in which a new flu virus emerges, one against which people have little, if any, immunity and one for which there is no vaccine. As the disease spreads quickly from person to person, emergency management experts say, such a disease would cause mass absenteeism, strain a nation's health-care system and disrupt untold vital services.