Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department says they're already in the planning stages. They say they did a lot of pandemic planning around the Olympics, so that gave them a headstart. But they say you can always do more, and with the attention surrounding the bird flu, they plan to spend a lot of time this year getting ready for a pandemic just in case.
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department says it's preparing for the bird flu.
Dr. Dagmar Vitek, Salt Lake Valley Health Department: "We need to be very familiar with the disease. We need to know what avian influenza is about, how it's transmitted."
The department has four "disease detectives" that, as part of their jobs, look for any unusual symptoms in the community.
Eilene Risk, "Disease Detective": "We look for diseases at schools, especially during flu season."
They also call doctor's offices and hospitals to find out if more patients are coming in sicker than usual with a particular type of illness. Plus, they track over-the-counter medications to see if people are buying increased amounts of, say, flu medicine.
Eilene Risk: "We need to be able to act quickly and early, and it's this information that allows us to do that."
Once they recognize the disease, epidemiologists would communicate with a wireless travel pac. It contains radios and emergency phones, cameras for photographing the illness, and a computer and fax line for e-mailing and receiving information.
"We need to provide critical updates to health care providers."
...........
While they work to stop the spread of the disease, health department employees would start identifying who was exposed.
Dr. Dagmar Vitek: "We try to give them medications and vaccinations so they don't become ill, and whoever is ill needs to be isolated and treated at that time."
In the case the whole valley was exposed, Salt Lake County says it could set up 10 clinics and treat 100-thousand people over 10 days. The department already has the shots it would use. They're high-tech air guns that would blow the vaccine right into the skin without any needles.
The vaccines would come from the federal government, which is stockpiling them right now.
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3198
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department says it's preparing for the bird flu.
Dr. Dagmar Vitek, Salt Lake Valley Health Department: "We need to be very familiar with the disease. We need to know what avian influenza is about, how it's transmitted."
The department has four "disease detectives" that, as part of their jobs, look for any unusual symptoms in the community.
Eilene Risk, "Disease Detective": "We look for diseases at schools, especially during flu season."
They also call doctor's offices and hospitals to find out if more patients are coming in sicker than usual with a particular type of illness. Plus, they track over-the-counter medications to see if people are buying increased amounts of, say, flu medicine.
Eilene Risk: "We need to be able to act quickly and early, and it's this information that allows us to do that."
Once they recognize the disease, epidemiologists would communicate with a wireless travel pac. It contains radios and emergency phones, cameras for photographing the illness, and a computer and fax line for e-mailing and receiving information.
"We need to provide critical updates to health care providers."
...........
While they work to stop the spread of the disease, health department employees would start identifying who was exposed.
Dr. Dagmar Vitek: "We try to give them medications and vaccinations so they don't become ill, and whoever is ill needs to be isolated and treated at that time."
In the case the whole valley was exposed, Salt Lake County says it could set up 10 clinics and treat 100-thousand people over 10 days. The department already has the shots it would use. They're high-tech air guns that would blow the vaccine right into the skin without any needles.
The vaccines would come from the federal government, which is stockpiling them right now.
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3198