http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/health/14861300.htm
Bird flu could close military cemeteries
ANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Families of veterans who die during a bird flu outbreak shouldn't count on burying their loved ones in any of the 120 national cemeteries. The Department of Veterans Affairs foresees closing the military graveyards in a pandemic because of staffing problems.
The VA buries more than 250 veterans and eligible family members a day - about 93,000 a year. It operates cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico.
Those burials could stop or be put on hold during a pandemic, presumably even as the tally of dead surges, according to a VA plan that lays out how it will cope with an influenza outbreak. The government is preparing for a worst-case scenario of nearly 2 million deaths in the United States in a pandemic.
The VA would continue treating veterans at its 150-plus hospitals and hundreds of smaller clinics. It also would provide back-up care to active duty military, as well as non-veterans if necessary, according to the plan posted on the department's Web site.
As for the dead, the VA said it may have to store bodies in refrigerated warehouses or trucks outfitted as temporary morgues.
If forced to close cemeteries because of staffing shortages or other reasons, the plan calls for VA employees to reroute phones and contact funeral homes and the next-of-kin to "reschedule" burials.
As much as 40 percent of the national work force could be off the job in a pandemic, according to federal estimates.
Bird flu could close military cemeteries
ANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Families of veterans who die during a bird flu outbreak shouldn't count on burying their loved ones in any of the 120 national cemeteries. The Department of Veterans Affairs foresees closing the military graveyards in a pandemic because of staffing problems.
The VA buries more than 250 veterans and eligible family members a day - about 93,000 a year. It operates cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico.
Those burials could stop or be put on hold during a pandemic, presumably even as the tally of dead surges, according to a VA plan that lays out how it will cope with an influenza outbreak. The government is preparing for a worst-case scenario of nearly 2 million deaths in the United States in a pandemic.
The VA would continue treating veterans at its 150-plus hospitals and hundreds of smaller clinics. It also would provide back-up care to active duty military, as well as non-veterans if necessary, according to the plan posted on the department's Web site.
As for the dead, the VA said it may have to store bodies in refrigerated warehouses or trucks outfitted as temporary morgues.
If forced to close cemeteries because of staffing shortages or other reasons, the plan calls for VA employees to reroute phones and contact funeral homes and the next-of-kin to "reschedule" burials.
As much as 40 percent of the national work force could be off the job in a pandemic, according to federal estimates.