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Planning for the Pandemic Influenza Outbreak

First and foremost is the education of the entire community. Everyone must be aware that the impact of a pandemic will affect the government just the same as businesses, the home or the schools. While the message should not incite panic, every organization as a whole should be aware of anticipated limitations in normal service and resources during a pandemic.

The following planning guidelines, with consultation through the local public health affiliates, will promote any school’s ability to meet the challenge of a pandemic:

• Integrate plans with the existing plans in a community and state. Be sure to include the school’s Employee Assistance Program, administrators, and custodial staff in your planning meetings as they are critical to ensuring that essential protocols such as mental health, communication and cleaning/disinfecting procedures are developed. Ensure that all plans interface with each other, and that legal aspects are considered, so that unexpected HR conflicts do not occur during an outbreak.

• Establish and implement a workforce infection control plan in collaboration with public health and school nurses. 

• Anticipate a reduced workforce during the outbreak. It is anticipated that up to 30-40% of the workforce will not be able to report to work, either because they have the influenza virus, or they are tending to the needs of a loved one. This may require you to establish alternative scheduling of certain functions and identify tele-work opportunities.

• Anticipate not having access to mutual aid or state/federal support during an outbreak. Local, state, and national response communities may be directly affected by the pandemic and do not have the resources to send support to your community.

• Establish and practice disinfecting/decontamination guidelines for classrooms, offices and off-site work areas.

The potential of a pandemic outbreak of the H5N1 Influenza Virus is real, but there are many other viruses and organisms that may initiate a chain of events leading to the next pandemic. Regardless of whether it is Avian Flu, or another biological agent, the key to successfully meeting the challenge is to plan for the event, prepare to work the plan, and implement the plan when the event occurs.  Schools should incorporate pandemic influenza planning into an overall biological incidents plan, especially since planning and preparedness performed for an influenza pandemic is also applicable to other emerging infectious disease outbreaks (i.e. SARS) or an act of bioterrorism.

With full-time state and international public health experience as well as extensive state government school safety emergency preparedness experience, Dr. Sony Shepherd has considerable experience in helping school and public health officials develop robust pandemic flu and biological incident plans. Dr. Shepherd worked in the School Safety Project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency – Office of the Governor, as the State Anti-terrorism Planner for the Terrorism Division of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security, as the State Bioterrorism Exercise Coordinator for the Georgia Division of Public Health and as a Planner for the Centers for Disease Control.  While at the CDC, Dr. Shepherd served as an Incident Support Specialist on the CDC’s Incident Response Team which can deploy to any corner of the world via a special jet in a matter of hours.

Sources for Assistance:
www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/school/index.html
www.avianflu.gov
www.flufacts.com
www.redcross.org/news/ds/panflu/
www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/
www.osha.gov/dsg/guidance/avian-flu.html
www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/pandemic-influenza.html
www.cste.org/specialprojects/Influenzaplans/StateMap.asp
www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/

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