Pandemic Preparedness
- 5/6/2009
- Author: Kristine Miller
- Category: EC News Blog
- 28215 Views
- 0 Comments
Jokes about the three little piggies abound, but swine flu, or A(H1N1) as it’s technically called, is no laughing matter.
In a recent editorial http://www.jcrinc.com/Pandemic-Preparedness, Barbara M. Soule, RN, MPA, CIC, Practice Leader, Infection Prevention and Control, Joint Commission Resources/Joint Commission International, reminds us of the possibility of a pandemic flu outbreak.
But helpful JCR information is already available—including articles originally published in EC News:
http://www.jcrinc.com/common/pdfs/qualityandsafety/pandemic_flu_preparedness_OSHA_guidelines.pdf
The July 2007 article "Pandemic Flu Preparedness" warns that an influenza pandemic could have “the potential to affect between 15% and 35% of the U.S. population. The result most likely would be increased hospitalizations.... (Meltzer et al: EID 1999;5:659–71, as quoted in "Presentation on Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza" by Dr. Rashmi Chugh, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Officer, DuPage County Health Department, Wheaton, IL, Nov. 16, 2006).
http://www.jcrinc.com/common/pdfs/qualityandsafety/preparing_for_a_pandemic_brevard_county_FL.pdf
The hospitals of the Health First system in Brevard County, Florida, have had a pandemic flu preparedness plan for some time. You can read how they used their knowledge of previous emergency situations to create an effective flu plan—one that included community partners and arranged for proper staffing—in the January 2008 EM case study, "Preparing for a Pandemic".
http://www.jcrinc.com/common/pdfs/qualityandsafety/pandemic_preparedness_best_practices.pdf
Other best practice case studies include the VHA—the nation’s largest integrated health care system, and Northwest Community Healthcare, Chicago—a community-sized system, in the May 2007 article "Pandemic Preparedness: Best Practice Case Studies".
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jcaho/ecn/2004/00000007/00000007/art00001
And let’s not forget about the experience of Toronto hospitals, which had to deal with an actual historical outbreak—the SARS epidemic.
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