Coming Pandemic-Congress, CDC. and .gov response

The government and CDC is responding to the threat of the coming Pandemic and while some actions are rather obscure and hard to find their is a contingency plan in effect. Much of the reporting of the specifics of what has been done has surfaced on conspiracy sites, but many of the facts and documents exist and were ignored at the time the information was put out there.

This bill H.R. 307 - 113th Congress concerning the 2013-2014 was enacted when early this year flu became epidemic in the United States.

http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/house-bill/307

Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2013 - Title I: Strengthening National Preparedness and Response for Public Health Emergencies - (Sec. 101) Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit the National Health Security Strategy to the relevant congressional committees in 2014. Revises the Strategy's preparedness goals, in part to specify that the drills and exercises included in periodic evaluations of federal, state, local, and tribal preparedness and response capabilities also include drills and exercises to ensure medical surge capacity for events without notice.

Requires the Strategy to include: (1) provisions for increasing the preparedness, response capabilities, and surge capacity of ambulatory care facilities, dental health facilities, and critical care service systems; (2) plans for optimizing a coordinated and flexible approach to the medical surge capacity of hospitals, other health care facilities, critical care, and trauma care and emergency medical systems; (3) provisions taking into account the unique needs of individuals with disabilities in a public health emergency; and (4) strategic initiatives to advance countermeasures to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any biological agent or toxin or any chemical, radiological, or nuclear agent or agents, whether naturally occurring, unintentional, or deliberate.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) monitor emerging issues and concerns as they relate to medical and public health preparedness and response for at-risk individuals in the event of a public health emergency; (2) disseminate and update novel and best practices of outreach to and care of at-risk individuals before, during, and following public health emergencies in as timely a manner as is practicable, including from the time a public health threat is identified; and (3) ensure that public health and medical information distributed by HHS during a public health emergency is delivered in a manner that takes into account the range of communication needs of the intended recipients, including at-risk individuals.

comment: This begs the question, what exactly can either .gov or CDC do in light of current realities to pass more legislation or CDC rewrite its current preparation plan. Can Congress do anymore or pass anymore bills that would help the situation?

Here are a few realities:

1) A vaccine is under development. Through the years it has been nearly impossible to predict the strain that would hit in time to prepare a vaccine. Sources say that it will take 6 months to year to produce a vaccine if it is possible. This will be too late. What legislation could speed up the preparation of a vaccine for a virus that currently does not exist in the mutated form it will hit?

2) Congress cannot authorize money to buy a drug which has not been developed yet.  Also if no vaccination exists for what is to come it could not be included in the vaccine profile developed early in 2013.

3) It is the responsibility of the FDA and CDC to handle and prepare with the tools they have. Here is where the buck stops. A reality is that our medical system simply is not ready or capable of handling a heavy Pandemic. I have written about this for years and the current SIP recommendation for those infected severely by a coming mega flu is the plan.  Flooded ERs where the disease will spread even more, is not the answer. More financing and such can not create something that will be effective before we know what will hit.

4) Large shipments of supplies have been authorized and quietly shipped to possible high infection sites. Money was appropriated and funded to buy these supplies. Yet the key focus in some shipments was to handle large groups of sick and armed people rather than set up clinics.  Any supplies of drugs or health supplies would be quickly sacked and stolen no matter how guarded they were.  Can they fund and increase enough infrastructure to deal with it? No.

Conclusion: Even those with the most limited understanding of the responsibility of agencies- CDC - FEMA - and the military which will be used as opposed to local law enforcement which would be overwhelmed - are already funded.  Blood out of a turnip is any expectancy of an economically crippled nation dealing with a Pandemic is unrealistic.

In a reflection of JFK's statement "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", I would say - "Ask not what your country can do to help you in a Pandemic, but what you can do now to prepare for yourselves and your families."

It is a time to throw off the mindset of collecting and living off the government. They simply have reached a point where they can no longer can adequately provide help to everyone. Criticism must be replaced by action, and that is your personal responsibility. Stop asking what if all help stops and how .gov can be pressured to restore it. Accept it can and possibly will  become a  reality that it will stop and prepare.

I won't plug my book. But it, like the Pandemic is not if, but when.

Medclinician