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Local officials prepared for flu pandemic
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE ? The best way to cope with a possible pandemic influenza situation is to be self-reliant, according to local health officials.
The Marquette County Health Department helped put on a pandemic influenza tabletop exercise at Northern Michigan University recently, simulating a scenario in which Marquette County was wracked by the effects of pandemic influenza.
?It?s critically important that people no longer make the assumption that the government will provide all the services that are needed,? said Cal Burdick, the health department?s emergency preparedness coordinator. ?It?s really essential that people plan on being as independent as possible.?
Ray Sharp, public health emergency preparedness coordinator of the Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department said that in a pandemic influenza situation, resources would be scarce and public services would be stretched dangerously thin as people stay home to avoid getting infected or to care for infected loved ones.
Burdick and Sharp asked participants to imagine an outbreak that would start in Asia, sweep across the world and eventually make its way to America, hitting the metropolitan areas first.
After an outbreak in America, Sharp said a virus vaccine might not be ready for six to eight months, and supplies would be hard to come by in rural areas like the Upper Peninsula due to transportation disruptions.
Burdick explained why a vaccine would take so long.
?Pharmaceutical companies can?t really begin manufacturing vaccine until an outbreak occurs,? he said. ?There has to be a seed virus taken from an infected person, and it takes a little while to identify what specific strain of the virus it is.?
According to the scenario, public schools would be shut down and other businesses might have to close. Essential services such as police, firefighters, EMS workers, health officials, county officials and public utility workers would help maintain order, but even their workforce would be strained.
Road patrol Capt. Dave Lemire of the Marquette County Sheriff?s Department, taking part in the exercise, said his department would not be able to enforce a quarantine or curfew, citing other responsibilities.
?Pulling over people that are violating a quarantine? Simply put we?re not going to have the personnel to do that,? he said. ?A lot of people don?t realize at the sheriff?s office, we have an 80-bed (jail) two blocks away. A second priority is keeping the courts open, which by law we have to do because of your constitutional rights to due process.
?Crime is not going to stop. It?s still going to be the same if not higher. We can plan to a certain degree but the situation is going to dictate how we respond.?
However, it?s a fine line between wanting to tell people about the enormity of the potential situation but not incite panic, Burdick said.
?The best way to stem panic is to give people the information beforehand so they can anticipate and prepare for the worst,? he said. ?It?s a very serious illness that could result in death. However, if people take certain measures to protect themselves it would certainly lessen their chance of contracting something like that.?
http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6994
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE ? The best way to cope with a possible pandemic influenza situation is to be self-reliant, according to local health officials.
The Marquette County Health Department helped put on a pandemic influenza tabletop exercise at Northern Michigan University recently, simulating a scenario in which Marquette County was wracked by the effects of pandemic influenza.
?It?s critically important that people no longer make the assumption that the government will provide all the services that are needed,? said Cal Burdick, the health department?s emergency preparedness coordinator. ?It?s really essential that people plan on being as independent as possible.?
Ray Sharp, public health emergency preparedness coordinator of the Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department said that in a pandemic influenza situation, resources would be scarce and public services would be stretched dangerously thin as people stay home to avoid getting infected or to care for infected loved ones.
Burdick and Sharp asked participants to imagine an outbreak that would start in Asia, sweep across the world and eventually make its way to America, hitting the metropolitan areas first.
After an outbreak in America, Sharp said a virus vaccine might not be ready for six to eight months, and supplies would be hard to come by in rural areas like the Upper Peninsula due to transportation disruptions.
Burdick explained why a vaccine would take so long.
?Pharmaceutical companies can?t really begin manufacturing vaccine until an outbreak occurs,? he said. ?There has to be a seed virus taken from an infected person, and it takes a little while to identify what specific strain of the virus it is.?
According to the scenario, public schools would be shut down and other businesses might have to close. Essential services such as police, firefighters, EMS workers, health officials, county officials and public utility workers would help maintain order, but even their workforce would be strained.
Road patrol Capt. Dave Lemire of the Marquette County Sheriff?s Department, taking part in the exercise, said his department would not be able to enforce a quarantine or curfew, citing other responsibilities.
?Pulling over people that are violating a quarantine? Simply put we?re not going to have the personnel to do that,? he said. ?A lot of people don?t realize at the sheriff?s office, we have an 80-bed (jail) two blocks away. A second priority is keeping the courts open, which by law we have to do because of your constitutional rights to due process.
?Crime is not going to stop. It?s still going to be the same if not higher. We can plan to a certain degree but the situation is going to dictate how we respond.?
However, it?s a fine line between wanting to tell people about the enormity of the potential situation but not incite panic, Burdick said.
?The best way to stem panic is to give people the information beforehand so they can anticipate and prepare for the worst,? he said. ?It?s a very serious illness that could result in death. However, if people take certain measures to protect themselves it would certainly lessen their chance of contracting something like that.?
http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6994