Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Pandemic centre all set to go
15 March 2006 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> By JANINE RANKIN [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]A pandemic operations centre has been set up at Palmerston North Hospital to plan for any potential bird flu epidemic.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The centre, in existing buildings near the helicopter hangar, will be a base for three staff and will host training for other organisations gearing up for the possible health emergency that could affect up to 56,000 people in the region. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Pandemic planner Murray Mills said MidCentral District Health Board's plan includes infection control for childcare centres, personal planning and emergency responses and will be released later this month. But this is by no means the end of the planning. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"The planning process never ends. It's cyclical and always subject to review. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"But we would hope we would be able to cope with the impact of a pandemic if it happened today because we have good people. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"With the support of all health providers and the community, I'm confident we will be prepared for whatever comes along." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Planning is based on the assumption a pandemic will happen one day, and that it is most likely to happen when the H5N1 virus changes to allow spread from person to person in a world population that will have no natural immunity.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The number of people needing hospital treatment in Palmerston North could be 1300, but the main message from Mr Mills' team was that with good planning, most people would survive. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Mr Mills said pandemic planners had been able to build on the lessons learnt from preparing for a threatened Sars outbreak in New Zealand in 2003. Although the plan never had to be put into action, the outbreak control team kept working. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"Potentially, more people could be infected with the so-called bird flu. So we're focusing on protecting the community and ensuring essential services can still be run." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]One of the next key tasks is for project officer, Malinda Nash, to develop the concept of community-based assessment centres that would be set up when the pandemic arrived. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The centres would be the first port of call for people seeking medical attention for influenza symptoms rather than risking the spread of infection through GP surgeries or the hospital emergency department. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Dealing with influenza patients in separate settings would help take the pressure off hospitals, that would still have to cope with the usual workload of broken bones, accident and other emergency patients and elective services. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The community-based assessment centres would offer diagnosis, anti-viral and antibiotic treatment where appropriate, and arrange for some patients to be transferred to hospital. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The location of those centres, and how they would be staffed, were issues Ms Nash had to explore.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/manawatustandard/0,2106,3604773a6502,00.html
[/FONT]
15 March 2006 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The centre, in existing buildings near the helicopter hangar, will be a base for three staff and will host training for other organisations gearing up for the possible health emergency that could affect up to 56,000 people in the region. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Pandemic planner Murray Mills said MidCentral District Health Board's plan includes infection control for childcare centres, personal planning and emergency responses and will be released later this month. But this is by no means the end of the planning. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"The planning process never ends. It's cyclical and always subject to review. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"But we would hope we would be able to cope with the impact of a pandemic if it happened today because we have good people. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"With the support of all health providers and the community, I'm confident we will be prepared for whatever comes along." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Planning is based on the assumption a pandemic will happen one day, and that it is most likely to happen when the H5N1 virus changes to allow spread from person to person in a world population that will have no natural immunity.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The number of people needing hospital treatment in Palmerston North could be 1300, but the main message from Mr Mills' team was that with good planning, most people would survive. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Mr Mills said pandemic planners had been able to build on the lessons learnt from preparing for a threatened Sars outbreak in New Zealand in 2003. Although the plan never had to be put into action, the outbreak control team kept working. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]"Potentially, more people could be infected with the so-called bird flu. So we're focusing on protecting the community and ensuring essential services can still be run." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]One of the next key tasks is for project officer, Malinda Nash, to develop the concept of community-based assessment centres that would be set up when the pandemic arrived. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The centres would be the first port of call for people seeking medical attention for influenza symptoms rather than risking the spread of infection through GP surgeries or the hospital emergency department. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]Dealing with influenza patients in separate settings would help take the pressure off hospitals, that would still have to cope with the usual workload of broken bones, accident and other emergency patients and elective services. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The community-based assessment centres would offer diagnosis, anti-viral and antibiotic treatment where appropriate, and arrange for some patients to be transferred to hospital. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]The location of those centres, and how they would be staffed, were issues Ms Nash had to explore.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, MS Sans Serif]http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/manawatustandard/0,2106,3604773a6502,00.html
[/FONT]