vt.mathgirl
Well-known member
This is from the Brattleboro Reformer.
http://www.reformer.com/ci_13416121?source=most_emailed
OMG - the comments make my blood boil!
Preparing for an epidemic
By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN
BRATTLEBORO -- Local and state officials do not know exactly what is going to happen when there is a major swine flu outbreak in Vermont.
They don?t know how the schools are going to be able to handle the numbers of students who are expected to show symptoms, and it is not clear how school administrators, teachers, cafeteria workers and bus drivers are going to react when their own staff start staying home.
Even leading up to the eventual outbreak, questions remain about when the state will receive the vaccine, how effective it will be and whether the medicine, which is being rushed into production, will have been sufficiently tested.
What is clear, Vermont School Crisis Team facilitator Stephen Earley said Thursday, is that within the next few months some school in the state is going to be forced to deal with a health care emergency.
And the best thing schools can do at this point, even in the face of so many unanswered questions, is prepare.
About 30 school and public health officials from throughout Windham County met Thursday to ask state public health experts questions about the schools? role in the event of a swine flu outbreak.
Earley admitted that there are still plenty of unknowns about the H1N1 virus, but he said that since school-age children are one of the most susceptible populations, every school in the state should have a plan in place in case they are the ones facing an outbreak.
"What we know is that when it hits, there will be a surge. It will come on like a tidal wave and we will all have to think on our feet," Earley said. "We are all feeling a sense of immediacy about this and when it happens it will tax the resources of all of us."
The meeting Thursday was held at the Windham Regional Career Center and it was the first table top exercise in the state to bring school administrators together to find out what kind of questions they had about dealing with a public health emergency.
Tom Perry, a retired school principal who is working with Earley, told the crowd that the meeting Thursday was more of a chance to collect questions than it was an opportunity to provide answers.
"What we are doing here is preparing. Everything is a recommendation because this hasn?t happened yet," said Perry. "The information we are getting is changing constantly."
Since school-age children have been determined to be a target group for swine flu, the Department of Education and the Department of Health are working together to organize vaccination clinics in the schools this season.
Most of the principals at the meeting, who were generally from within the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, said they would be willing to support a clinic in their schools. But even the clinics, which the state is hoping to initiate in the coming months, are raising a lot of questions.
The biggest concern seems to be the school?s liability in the event of children getting sick from the vaccine, and that issue, according to information discussed Thursday, remains somewhat unresolved.
The health department has also promised to provide staff to help with the clinics at schools with more than 300 students.
Department of Health Brattleboro District Officer Dianne Champion said the state was still looking over the information that schools all over Vermont sent in, and she said the department was trying to gather its resources to determine how it would be able to meet the challenge of running clinics in both the most rural schools and on the largest high school campuses in Vermont?s urban centers.
In an interview later in the day, Vermont Health Commissioner Wendy Davis said she understood the frustration parents and school staff might be feeling over the planned clinics.
But she said the news coming in to the state is changing daily and the department is doing its best to get the information out and have local health and education officials working closely together to make sure everyone is moving ahead in the same direction.
According to Davis, the health department sent out proposals to 463 schools in the state and 332 said they wanted to host a swine flu clinic.
Now the department is trying to figure out how to staff the clinics at the larger schools and work with the nurses at the smaller schools who will be responsible to run their clinics
"It is going to be a lot of work," said Davis, adding that the department will be seeking volunteers and help from local health care providers.
At the meeting Thursday, Earley and Perry took the group through a simulated scenario that could happen in one week at any school in Vermont.
On Monday, an announcement is made that clinics will be starting shortly, but by Tuesday some students and staff are complaining of experiencing flu-like symptoms.
By Wednesday, a small group of students appear to be ill and the school is having trouble reaching parents.
Questions arise about whether they should be quarantined together in one room.
The nurse is overwhelmed with phone calls and the staff is unaware of the school?s plan.
By Thursday, teachers and cafeteria workers are staying home, parents are unable to get through on the phone in the morning and students are texting and tweeting information that is not fully accurate.
By Friday, people are wondering if the school is going to close.
"Today a lot of questions were raised," WSESU Superintendent Ron Stahley said at the end of the meeting. "No one seems to have all the answers and I don?t want to get inaccurate information out. We?ll get the information out when what we have is accurate and then we?ll continue the conversation."
http://www.reformer.com/ci_13416121?source=most_emailed
OMG - the comments make my blood boil!
Preparing for an epidemic
By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN
BRATTLEBORO -- Local and state officials do not know exactly what is going to happen when there is a major swine flu outbreak in Vermont.
They don?t know how the schools are going to be able to handle the numbers of students who are expected to show symptoms, and it is not clear how school administrators, teachers, cafeteria workers and bus drivers are going to react when their own staff start staying home.
Even leading up to the eventual outbreak, questions remain about when the state will receive the vaccine, how effective it will be and whether the medicine, which is being rushed into production, will have been sufficiently tested.
What is clear, Vermont School Crisis Team facilitator Stephen Earley said Thursday, is that within the next few months some school in the state is going to be forced to deal with a health care emergency.
And the best thing schools can do at this point, even in the face of so many unanswered questions, is prepare.
About 30 school and public health officials from throughout Windham County met Thursday to ask state public health experts questions about the schools? role in the event of a swine flu outbreak.
Earley admitted that there are still plenty of unknowns about the H1N1 virus, but he said that since school-age children are one of the most susceptible populations, every school in the state should have a plan in place in case they are the ones facing an outbreak.
"What we know is that when it hits, there will be a surge. It will come on like a tidal wave and we will all have to think on our feet," Earley said. "We are all feeling a sense of immediacy about this and when it happens it will tax the resources of all of us."
The meeting Thursday was held at the Windham Regional Career Center and it was the first table top exercise in the state to bring school administrators together to find out what kind of questions they had about dealing with a public health emergency.
Tom Perry, a retired school principal who is working with Earley, told the crowd that the meeting Thursday was more of a chance to collect questions than it was an opportunity to provide answers.
"What we are doing here is preparing. Everything is a recommendation because this hasn?t happened yet," said Perry. "The information we are getting is changing constantly."
Since school-age children have been determined to be a target group for swine flu, the Department of Education and the Department of Health are working together to organize vaccination clinics in the schools this season.
Most of the principals at the meeting, who were generally from within the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, said they would be willing to support a clinic in their schools. But even the clinics, which the state is hoping to initiate in the coming months, are raising a lot of questions.
The biggest concern seems to be the school?s liability in the event of children getting sick from the vaccine, and that issue, according to information discussed Thursday, remains somewhat unresolved.
The health department has also promised to provide staff to help with the clinics at schools with more than 300 students.
Department of Health Brattleboro District Officer Dianne Champion said the state was still looking over the information that schools all over Vermont sent in, and she said the department was trying to gather its resources to determine how it would be able to meet the challenge of running clinics in both the most rural schools and on the largest high school campuses in Vermont?s urban centers.
In an interview later in the day, Vermont Health Commissioner Wendy Davis said she understood the frustration parents and school staff might be feeling over the planned clinics.
But she said the news coming in to the state is changing daily and the department is doing its best to get the information out and have local health and education officials working closely together to make sure everyone is moving ahead in the same direction.
According to Davis, the health department sent out proposals to 463 schools in the state and 332 said they wanted to host a swine flu clinic.
Now the department is trying to figure out how to staff the clinics at the larger schools and work with the nurses at the smaller schools who will be responsible to run their clinics
"It is going to be a lot of work," said Davis, adding that the department will be seeking volunteers and help from local health care providers.
At the meeting Thursday, Earley and Perry took the group through a simulated scenario that could happen in one week at any school in Vermont.
On Monday, an announcement is made that clinics will be starting shortly, but by Tuesday some students and staff are complaining of experiencing flu-like symptoms.
By Wednesday, a small group of students appear to be ill and the school is having trouble reaching parents.
Questions arise about whether they should be quarantined together in one room.
The nurse is overwhelmed with phone calls and the staff is unaware of the school?s plan.
By Thursday, teachers and cafeteria workers are staying home, parents are unable to get through on the phone in the morning and students are texting and tweeting information that is not fully accurate.
By Friday, people are wondering if the school is going to close.
"Today a lot of questions were raised," WSESU Superintendent Ron Stahley said at the end of the meeting. "No one seems to have all the answers and I don?t want to get inaccurate information out. We?ll get the information out when what we have is accurate and then we?ll continue the conversation."
