Never heard this plan mentioned before........
"Families could minimize their chances of being exposed by keeping everyone at home except one person who would go to work, buy the groceries and other necessities, and stay isolated in the home in case that person gets sick, Grasso said."
Florida is far from ready to face a deadly avian flu pandemic
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...5mar15,0,6913848.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
Florida is far from ready to face a deadly avian flu pandemic
By Nancy McVicar and Mark Hollis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 15 2006
If a deadly bird flu pandemic were to spread to the United States today, Florida would have too few hospital beds and medical personnel to handle it, and most families wouldn't be prepared to feed and care for themselves, health officials told the Legislature on Tuesday.
Rony Francois, secretary of the Florida Department of Health, said such a flu pandemic -- a global epidemic -- is a "perfect storm" that could easily overrun public and private health systems and paralyze Florida's tourism-driven economy.
Bird flu, also called avian flu, is caused by the H5N1 virus and has been moving rapidly around the globe in bird populations. Experts think it is just a matter of time before it strikes wild birds and possibly domestic flocks in the United States. The virus has sickened 177 people, mostly in Asia, killing more than half. Health officials think they contracted it from infected birds.
Many officials fear it will mutate into a form that would pass easily from person to person. Almost no one would have any immunity, and a there is no vaccine. South Florida, with three international airports, could be particularly vulnerable.
Florida's experience with other types of disasters -- hurricanes and an anthrax attack -- may mean the state is better prepared than others. But Craig Fugate, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said it is important to educate residents about how to prepare and take care of themselves, freeing resources for those who are unable to do so.
"Merely being miserable may not be reason enough for you to see health care professionals during a pandemic," Fugate said. "It may be more profitable for us to teach people, educate people how take care of themselves and recognize symptoms that do require medical intervention. In a pandemic, we'll have to focus on those who are gravely ill."
Federal, state and county health officials are basing their plans for a possible pandemic on projections that a maximum of 35 percent of the population would become ill. But the Palm Beach County draft plan says: "Historic data show that over 50 percent of a population may become infected with the novel virus during a pandemic."
Dr. Tammy Blankenship, director of disease prevention for Broward County, said many of the same people who worked together during the recent hurricanes and the anthrax attack at the American Media Inc. building in 2001 are working together again on flu preparations.
"There's no deadline [to finish the plans], but of course people are getting nervous," said Blankenship, who co-chairs the Broward Regional Health Planning Council's pandemic flu planning committee. "Everybody's got a plan. All the hospitals have plans, the health department has a plan, the fire-rescue people have plans."
"The key is educating the public," said Al Grasso, emergency preparedness coordinator for the Palm Beach County Health Department. "They have to understand it isn't here, but if it does come there will be plans in place. It could start out bird to human, then it might go human to human, but it might be like Y2K and not come at all."
Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are monitoring state birds for signs of infection.
Dr. Mark Cunningham, a veterinarian with Fish and Wildlife, said global migratory bird patterns bring fowl from Asia and Europe across the Bering Strait and into Canada and the United States. As a result, states in the west along the Pacific Ocean, or in the middle of the country along the Mississippi flyway, would likely see sick or dead birds long before Florida. The virus might also come into Florida via imported exotic species.
His agency has a Web site, myfwc.com/bird/, where people can report dead or sick birds.
It is possible the virus could mutate and start infecting humans in Asia, Europe or Africa even before any birds here get sick, but local planners are working on what to do when and if sick or dead birds start showing up in South Florida.
"If it does go human to human, everything changes," Grasso said.
If the virus were found in humans in Florida, state and county emergency operations centers would open with federal, state and local health officials taking the lead, Blankenship said.
One component would be keeping the public updated with frequent briefings.
Schools and malls might be closed, and sports and entertainment events canceled. People who got sick or who had been exposed could be quarantined, most likely at home, to prevent the virus' spread.
Plans being discussed include using schools, perhaps hurricane shelters, or other buildings as health care centers if hospitals couldn't handle the load. It is likely that volunteers would have to be recruited and trained to do some of the jobs, such as giving vaccinations, normally performed by licensed health professionals.
If a vaccine were developed, shots might be offered at drive-through locations in mall parking lots to prevent people from congregating and spreading infection. People might be required to wear protective masks in doctor's offices and hospital waiting rooms, or if they ventured out on errands.
Families might have to be on their own for several weeks -- the planners call this "social distancing" -- and would need to stock up on food, medicine and other necessities in advance.
Families could minimize their chances of being exposed by keeping everyone at home except one person who would go to work, buy the groceries and other necessities, and stay isolated in the home in case that person gets sick, Grasso said.
As much as possible, employers could allow people to work from home by computer.
Broward and Palm Beach counties have training exercises scheduled in the next few weeks using a program developed at Florida State University and nicknamed P-5. The full title is "Prior Planning Prevents Pandemic Pandemonium."
Adam Yanckowitz, manager of the health committee for Broward's EOC, who is helping to organize the March 30 P-5 event at the health department, said the span of time between influenza pandemics in the 20th century has ranged from 11 years to 39 years. It has been 37 years since the last pandemic, he said.
"No one knows if the current avian flu will mutate into `The Big One' this season or the next or the next," he said. "The clock is ticking; we just don't know what time it is."
