Harvard Business School Publishing and Harvard Health Publications Announce ''Business Preparedness for Pandemic: A Leadership Summit'' to be held in Boston on May 14 - 17, 2007
Wednesday March 14, 3:57 pm ET

Harvard Health Publications
Ed Coburn, 617-432-4714
Ed_Coburn@hms.harvard.edu
or
Harvard Business School Publishing
Cathy Olofson, 617-783-7616
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Emergency preparedness: Faith-based volunteers will be needed too

By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor
Published: Friday, March 16, 2007 1:30 PM CDT
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Mary Pufall conducts a discussion at Thursday's faith-based disaster preparedness conference at Trinity Lutheran Church. (Natalie J. Ostgaard, photographer)

In emergency preparedness circles, the big question is not if an influenza pandemic will hit, but when, as such a catastrophic event is inevitable. Conceivably, mass chaos could ensue, unless a concrete plan is in place such as that developed in Polk County. But as Polk County Public Health Director Sheri Altepeter noted, following through with it would not be possible without a massive amount of volunteers. That's where faith-based communities come in.

"There are so many ways faith-based communities can help," she said at a faith-based disaster preparedness conference Thursday afternoon. "Their members are focused on serving others and have a history of working well together in emergency and disaster situations."

Some 45 people attended the conference at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston, including key ministry figures from several faiths, health care providers, local government officials and others. The meeting was the first of what Altepeter hopes will be more to get faith-based communities more involved in disaster planning. A few pastors expressed interest in joining the county's emergency management disaster preparedness group that meets several times a year.

A helping hand

Although several people in attendance were from other counties, the primary focus was on Polk County's comprehensive disaster plans, which are tailored to the event. A natural disaster like a flood, tornado or devastating ice storm, for example, would require a much different approach than a health catastrophe.

Altepeter and Sheriff Mark LeTexier gave an overview of the county's influenza and pandemic plans and detailed how faith-based communities could help. According to projected statistics, if a pandemic were to strike the county, approximately 30 percent of its 32,000 residents could become ill, possibly more. This amounts to about 9,600 people. Of that, 1 to 10 percent would require hospitalization, or 96 to 960 people. It's also possible 19 to 192 people could die from the disease.

The two hospitals in Polk County, RiverView in Crookston and First Care in Fosston, each have 25 beds. RiverView has two ventilators available while First Care has one.

"There would not, as you can see, be adequate space or equipment to care for the sick," said Altepeter.

Options would be to care for the sick at home, offsite or surge the capacity in hospital buildings. Church buildings are a possibility for offsite care, she said, but because the sick would likely be quarantined, this would limit access to the church indefinitely to outsiders.

Family members of those ailing or who died will also need tending to, as they suffer tremendous stress and emotional distress. Faith-based community members can provide an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on and simply someone they can lean on.

In addition to providing comfort, the faith-based community can promote calm in the face of fear and connectedness to the community and help people realize more sense of control. Volunteers can also be trained to administer "psychological first aid," as Dan Wilson, director of Northwestern Mental Health Center explained, either over the phone or in person.

Altepeter noted that planning for deaths is also essential. The five morticians in the county would need to collaborate on many issues and determine how to deal with remains. Because limiting interaction among people, or social distancing, might be necessary, it is also possible that funeral services would be either postponed or not held at all.

A different disaster

"How do we minister to people, promote connectedness when in the case of a pandemic, we're not supposed to come together?" Rev. John Lee, assistant to the Bishop for the Northwest Minnesota Lutheran Synod of the ELCA, posed.

"Churches can provide place and people, it's our strength," Pastor Randy Smith of Trinity added. "That is not what we can provide here so how do we as faith community deal with people who are so sick?"

"That's a good point," said Judy Lightowler of Health Ministries Network of Minnesota, one of the event organizers. "How can a community deal with a pandemic, which is life threatening, more so than a flood, which threatens possessions. It's just stuff, and we can live with the loss of memories. This next one is not going to be just stuff. People are going to be lost. Devastation of emotional, social, psychological proportions will occur, and pastors are going to be asked to do all of it."

When developing their own disaster plans, Lightowler said, faith-based communities need to determine how they can best help. They could provide a kitchen, store a stockpile of food and other supplies, help out at other locations and whatever else might be needed.

"You need to sit down together and as faith-based communities and wrestle with the question, 'How can we best meet the needs when we see pure devastation?' and then come back and share it." LeTexier said.

FEMA provides free online training sessions in a number of disaster preparedness areas on its Website www.training.fema.gov.

Terri Oliver, administrative assistant for PCPH, stressed the importance of recruiting volunteers through Minnesota Responds, a medical reserves corps. People can pre-register as a volunteer by visiting www.health.state.mn.us/minnesotaresponds, e-mailing minnesotaresponds@health.state.mn.us or calling 651 201-5723.

See Monday's Times for a story on the panel discussion, "Lessons We Learned from the 1997 Flood."

Red Cross holds pandemic flu classes

By Katina Tengesdal, Staff Writer ktengesdal@minotdailynews.com

The Mid-Dakota Chapter of the American Red Cross in Minot is hosting Pandemic Flu classes, to provide awareness, precaution and planning education for the community in case of a pandemic.

“A pandemic will occur. It’s not if it occurs, it’s when,” said Judith Hovde, a registered nurse and Red Cross volunteer instructor for the pandemic flu classes.

The classes will focus on educating health-care workers and members of the community on the differences between pandemic flu and seasonal flu, and preparedness and prevention strategies.

The main difference between pandemic flu and seasonal flu is that a new virus strain comes into existence, and no one has built up immunity to the new virus strain, Hovde said.

“People really don’t understand how pandemic flu occurs. They feel a sense of security because of the flu vaccine, but there won’t be a vaccine for a new virus strain right away,” Hovde said.

“Preparing a new vaccine for use takes months,” she added.

Hovde explained that with seasonal flu, vaccine greatly reduces the number of people who contract flu, and vaccine can provide protection for high-risk populations such as the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems. With a pandemic, everyone in the population is at risk, and there will be no vaccine available right away.

Because all of the population would be at risk during a pandemic, various services could be affected.

“Everything will be affected – health care, businesses, and utilities – because people will become ill,” Hovde said.

The Red Cross is interested in preparing the public for a pandemic because of recent concerns about avian flu, and because pandemic could arise anywhere at any time.

“It (a new pandemic) doesn’t necessarily have to be avian flu. Viruses mutate. Even SARS could turn into a pandemic. A pandemic doesn’t have to be just the flu,” Hovde said.

“Pandemic is not something we can predict, we can only prepare,” she added.

Hovde explained that the Red Cross also has a monthly committee meeting regarding community issues and planning for a pandemic, and they are currently working on preparedness strategies.

The pandemic flu classes plan on providing information, not scare tactics, to prepare the public.

“This is something that is very real. It’s not just out there in another country. People need to be informed,” said Janice Knosp, Coordinator for Emergencies at the Mid-Dakota Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“There is strength in numbers. The more people that understand it (pandemic), the more measures we can take to prevent it,” Hovde said.

“The biggest thing we can do is prepare people, so hopefully we can prevent some people from ending up with the flu,” she added.

The class also stresses prevention strategies, such as frequent hand washing and keeping surfaces clean. The class offers advice for individuals who deal with the public on a regular basis, such as those in school environments, stores, and restaurants.

The class also offers options for individuals looking for solid information on pandemics, such as the Centers for Disease Control Web site and the Red Cross Web site.

“They need to go to authentic sites for information,” Knosp said.

“We give options for information that are better than visiting fly-by-night sites,” Hovde said.

The Red Cross intends on offering the classes as long as there is interest in the community.

“I believe the community of Minot needs to show concern, and respond by attending classes. It’s convenient, it’s right here at the Red Cross, and it’s free,” Knosp said.

If response to the initial informational classes is good, Knosp added that the Red Cross may offer additional classes for more in-depth study.

“As the headquarters of the Red Cross keeps us abreast, we will continue to keep the community informed. Initially, we want the classes to be informational, as we go on, we will go into in-depth study of cause and effect,” Knosp said.

To attend a Pandemic Flu Class, call 852-2828 to preregister. Evening classes will be offered Thursday and April 3 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and day classes will be offered Tuesday and April 5 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Classes will be held at the office of the American Red Cross at 2021-4th Ave. NW in Minot.

Pandemic flu could devastate Bladen County

RHONDA GRIFFIN,STAFF WRITER

ELIZABETHTOWN — Precautions are taken against the flu every winter. But what would happen if a type of flu was so wide-spread, there was simply no stopping it?

A pandemic flu is a new flu virus against which there is no vaccine. It spreads rapidly from person-to-person because they have little or no immunity, and a pandemic can literally span the globe.

Though we are not currently facing a pandemic flu, North Carolina must be prepared to cope in an occurrence.

“When it comes to a pandemic, it’s not a matter of if it happens — it’s when it happens,” said Bladen County Health Director Wayne Stewart.

The Bladen County Health Department hosted a luncheon last week at Trinity United Methodist Church in Elizabethtown, to advise local business owners, emergency personnel and county employees of the importance of preparation for a pandemic flu outbreak.

“Think of the 36,000 people who die of the seasonal flu each year,” Stewart said to the crowd in attendance. “What if that were to happen each day? That would be the case in a pandemic.”

Guest speaker Kate Abell presented information on how Bladen County can prepare for a pandemic. Abell, who founded Trans-Verse, Inc., a company that assists with planning, exercises and education of the counties throughout the state, provided checklists to raise awareness about pandemic flu.

Unlike seasonal flu, which usually runs from October through April in North Carolina , a pandemic can hit at any time of the year, with people of all ages at risk, Abell said. Using the 1918 pandemic as an example, she explained that a pandemic can strike even those with the strongest immune systems.

Research seems to focus on the Avian flu, or “bird flu,” that has made news headlines in the past couple of years, but a pandemic could be a cause of the mutation of any combination of the flu virus.

In some ways, the U.S. is better equipped for a pandemic now than it was 90 years ago, Abell said. With antibiotics, antivirals, IV fluids, ventilators and personal protective equipment, there are more ways to fight off infection today.

But, she pointed out, we are at a higher risk in some ways than in 1918. More international travel, increased population, greater reliance on health care professionals, importing more goods from foreign countries, and having more elderly and immune-compromised people increase the chances of a virus spreading across the nation.

A flu vaccine takes six to nine months to produce, Abell said, and the infection would be widespread in that amount of time. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that the country is more at risk of a pandemic flu than bioterrorism, she added.

A flu outbreak could literally change the world as we know it. It could cause the closing of businesses, daycare centers and schools, bring limits on how many people could frequent establishments at one time, and cause complete social disruption.

Supplies of antivirals would be limited, with all communities getting hit at virtually the same time, Abell said. The healthcare system would be completely overwhelmed, such as the case of the 1918 pandemic.

Citizens were turned away from hospitals during the outbreak because there was simply no available space for them. Mortality rates skyrocketed, with some larger cities losing around 300 people each day to the virus.

It is predicted, Abell said, that if a pandemic were to hit soon, we would also experience a high death rate from the illness. Healthcare workers will be exposed to the disease, which could lead to their inability to care for others.

As in any emergency situation, prices would skyrocket, Abell said. With a large portion of North Carolinians living on very limited budgets, many may not have the ability to stockpile food and rations in the case of an outbreak.

There is little assistance available from the state, she said, and local governments will be limited as to the amount of assistance they will be able to give or receive in a pandemic situation.

“This will mean that we will have to depend on each other,” Abell said. “Look around the room — these are the people who will be helping you.”

Social groups, churches and communities will have to help each other through, she said. This will mean halting all non-essential activities, cross-training on duties so that more individuals will be able to provide assistance in all areas, stockpiling supplies and less face-to-face contact with others.

The most important control factor in the case of a pandemic is the same as with most other types of sickness — personal hygiene.

Washing hands frequently; covering the mouth while coughing or sneezing; using disposable tissues and throwing them away immediately after use; and avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth are all good health habits to ward of sickness.

And, of course, if one happens to become sick, it is recommended to stay at home away from others until the illness runs its course to prevent spreading the germs to others. Those who are healthy should avoid contact with those who are sick if possible.

Abell used a comparison of the cities of Philadelphia, Penn., and St. Louis, Mo., from the 1918 pandemic to show the importance of working to keep a flu outbreak under control.

Philadelphia didn’t take extra precautions to prevent the spread of the flu, resulting in an average of 300 deaths each day from the virus. St. Louis, on the other hand, nearly shut down all interaction in the city, but the precaution helped to end the sickness more quickly and saved many lives.

“This is a key point in preparedness,” Stewart said. “We all have to know what to do in the case of a pandemic.”

North Carolina public health responds to emergency situations throughout the state. Public health agencies have been doing their homework on pandemic flu, with the education and surveillance to prepare for the worst.

Stewart was pleased with the turn-out at Friday’s meeting, he said. The department plans to host more of the presentations in different areas throughout the county. Keeping the public informed and prepared is the key, Stewart said.

Checklists are available from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for businesses, faith-based organizations, schools and families for the planning and preparation of a pandemic. Visit www.ncdhhs.gov for more information.

A basic emergency kit, as outlined by the state’s DHHS, should be built at home to ensure that everyone in the household will have proper rations in case members are unable to visit a store for whatever reason.

Those items include: