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PA: School District Swine Flu Meeting

Readymom

Readymom

Registered User
CVSD to host community meetings about H1N1 virus
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/School-District-Swine-Flu-Meeting/yVqX2AefSE-EzCC-T8RslQ.cspx

Is your family PANDEMIC PREPARED?

Cumberland Valley School District will host two community meetings to educate residents about the threat of the H1N1 Virus, and about healthy habits and preparations as they pertain to school and community settings.

The community meetings will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and Thursday, Oct. 22, in the Performing Arts Center at Cumberland Valley High School. (Continued ...)

It goes on to list speakers, one of which will be me. There are additional speakers, now, including:
==Michael Huff, Deputy Secretary for Health, PA DOH
==Dr. Rich Harker, School District Physician

===========================================
District aims to educate on H1N1 flu
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/west/index.ssf?/base/news/125322002225330.xml&coll=1

District aims to educate on H1N1 flu
Friday, September 18, 2009
Elizabeth Gibson,

This year, Cumberland Valley School District is making sure community partners do all they can to promote hand-washing and other healthy habits.

The district will host two, free community meetings on preventing and minimizing infection of germs including the swine flu virus -- H1N1 -- at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 22 at the high school performing arts center. A Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center doctor, community outreach group and a local school safety expert will speak.

-snip-

"We've really started to discuss what we do to continue academics if school would need to shut down. We're obviously hoping we don't have to do that, but we have to plan just in case," said Tracy Panzer, district spokeswoman.

For more information, visit www.cvschools.org/swineflu.

I have been to quite a few public meetings.This one has got to be one of the best that I have seen planned, so far! If you live in the area, or know someone who does, it's highly recommended! -k
 
Re: PA: School District Swine Flu Meeting

Well turnout at the two community meetings (one church, one school district) were HORRIBLY low. about 25 at each one. And that was after fliers, links on websites, announcements in papers for both. The school district even had several days of clips on the news. By the evening before and the night of (last night) the news was having about a min. long clip about the meeting and the resulting attendance was still horribly low.

For the School district, he speakers were great. I was part of the line up that included:
-Director, Virology Lab of PennState Hershey Med.Center
-PA DOH
-Director of the County Safe Schools, County Emerg. Serv. office
-School District Physician

I was nervous from the thought of facing my peers in my community ... but they weren't there! Only ONE parent (a friend of mine) from our soccer team was there. (I sent emails to everyone in my email book about this meeting). Four from the audience were school district nurses, one in the audience was our county emergency services director.

Good thing about this meeting: EVERY single participant on the panel referred back to me in their presentation! Each one called me by name and confirmed something from my presentation as a necessary need for home preparation. :D I was the second presenter (after the Hershey Med doc) and apparently I covered all the areas that they were going to refer to in their speeches and I hadn't even seen what they were going to say. I segwayed into their presentations. :D

I did get interviewed. Actually, Wallace (the Hershey Med Virologist) got interviewed. I knew who the reporter was (he's another one of our local newscasters for the evening news and was covering the meeting) and I went up to him and thanked him for coming to cover this. I told him that I've been writing to tv news and newspapers and asking them to tell people WHAT to do to prepare because they can reach so many more people. At least, with him there, he can reach those people. He asked for an interview, from me, as a parent. I told him that I'd be slanted because I know more than the average parent. He still wanted the interview. He asked me something along the lines of if parents are interested enough in this (can't quite remember the exact question). But I do remember my response. I told him that parents are NOT interested because they keep hearing the same message over and over that the virus is mild. But they are not being told that it can still cause disruption in their daily routine due to large number of illness. They don't know there is a reason to prepare because they don't equate preparation with a mild illness.

Anyway, he stayed and they taped all of Wallace's presentation and all of my presentation. I looked over at him a couple of time and I do believe I had his rapt attention. (At least he looked like it) I thought he would just put a piece from Wallace, since he's the virologist BUT ... look at this:
http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0909/662172.html :D

There is a second try scheduled for 10/3 for the school district.
 
Re: PA: School District Swine Flu Meeting

Thanks. Here's the news report:

Cumberland Valley Hosts Swine Flu Seminar
http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0909/662172.html

Mechanicsburg, Pa. - Cumberland Valley High School offered a free seminar Wednesday night on something that may present quite a problem for many schools over the next several months.

The subject was swine flu. Health officials said in the upcoming battle against H1N1, schools may very well be the most important battlegrounds.

"They're the best breeding ground because children will produce a lot more virus and shed it more efficiently than adults will," said Dr. Wallace Green of Hershey Medical Center. "So the main emphasis is keep it out of the schools."

Greene says those who get swine flu should stay home for seven days to prevent spreading the virus to others. "If a child is sick they need to stay home, no matter how bad parents want to go to work."

Another big part of the message to parents was to be prepared as a household. Karen Kirk of the ReadyMoms Alliance says it would be a big help to stock yourself with key purchases ahead of time.

"Get some extra groceries, get the medicines you might need for home treatment now because once the virus comes through your community, it's going to be like getting bread and milk in a snow storm," she said.

Health officials repeated the need for young people and pregnant women to get the shots first when they become available next month. As for seniors, it appears swine strain is cutting them a break.

"Very few of them are ending up in the hospital from the swine flu," Green said. "Seasonal flu is another story."

The turnout for the meeting wasn't very high. Karen says that people may be underestimating H1N1 because they've heard the virus is mild to moderate in severity. But if something as highly contagious as swine flu is allowed to spread, it could temporarily cripple certain businesses and force the closings of schools for several days.

"They're not understanding there could be enough illness that it could cause disruptions in our society as we know it now," she said.
 
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