NCJ Number
219161
Journal
Homeland Defense Journal Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 34-36,38
Date Published
March 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes the discussions and recommendations of an exercise that brought together representatives of 26 private-sector agencies for the purpose of identifying preparation strategies for a flu pandemic.
Abstract
Participants agreed that evidence and expert opinion indicate the inevitability of a pandemic flu event, although the exact time of a pandemic outbreak, its geographical spread, and duration cannot be confidently predicted. They further agreed that now is the time to position private-sector and government organizations for mitigating the pandemic's effects. One recommendation is to protect workers against undue risk by focusing on awareness and prevention. Employee training must begin in the pre-event stage in order to reduce the incidence of needless exposure and infection. A second recommendation is the development of formalized agreements and protocols for sharing information among government officials, public health agencies, and the private sector. A third recommendation is that companies commit to changes in organizational culture and rethink priorities and programs that will ensure continuity of key operations without disruptions. Strategies for continuity must consider internal and external crisis communications, succession planning, crisis counseling, the credentialing of essential employees, education of the workforce, and relocation to other sites. Another recommendation is that time is set aside to test telecommuting and worker dispersal plans against the surge capacity of existing communication/information technology systems. Further, there should be a unified approach to public-private pandemic flu communications sufficiently early in the planning in order to cultivate trust in both public and private-sector initiatives. Participants also recommended that all government entities at all levels resolve disagreements about how to respond to a pandemic, so that disputes over authority and jurisdiction will not impede immediate actions when a crisis looms.