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| Science & Technology |
| Arizona rated the state most ready to handle a flu pandemic |
| 2009-01-17 |
| Arizona is better prepared to manage an influenza pandemic than the rest of the country, although its plan still has major gaps, a new report from the federal government suggests. The assessment, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, measures each state's ability to maintain operations and protect the public's health during a widespread flu crisis. Arizona is the only state in the nation not to have been listed as "inadequately prepared" in any of the 28 key categories, which included everything from the ability to handle mass casualties to maintaining an adequate food supply. "Arizona did show very strongly in many areas and generally better than the rest of the country," said William Raub, chairman of the committee that prepared the report. "This is a disease that can be almost everywhere at (once), so it's better to get prepared now," Raub added. Arizona's strategy does need improvement, including its plans to handle basic services if thousands of people fall ill and can't work. Most health experts believe the world is overdue for an influenza outbreak. There were three such pandemics in the 20th century; the most deadly occurred in 1918, killing 50 million worldwide. The next major outbreak is likely to be H5N1 avian influenza, known as bird flu. It has infected more than 390 people since 2003, killing 88 percent of them, according to the World Health Organization. The newest case was confirmed just this week, in a toddler in Egypt. Cases have slowed since 2006. "It's really not a question of if we're going to have a flu pandemic. It's a question of when and how severe," said Will Humble, deputy director of Arizona's Department of Health Services. "Our team has put a lot of effort into making sure we have an operational plan, a good plan. Representatives from 12 Cabinet departments and two White House offices have spent months analyzing the disaster strategies submitted by each state for potential weaknesses. States were graded in 28 categories and could receive one of four ratings in each: no gaps, few major gaps, many major gaps, or inadequate preparedness. Overall, they found that the nation has made great strides in preparing for a flu pandemic, but major flaws in readiness remain. One key problem area: maintaining government services in the face of widespread absenteeism. A severe flu pandemic could result in as much as 25 to 33 percent of American workers being away from their jobs, either because they were ill or were caring for a sick loved one. That could hinder a state's or city's ability to provide basic services. These could include cutting unemployment checks, maintaining bus routes or processing food-stamp applications. Arizona was only one of two states not listed as "inadequately prepared" to handle the worker problem, although the federal government said Arizona's absenteeism plan did have major gaps. Federal agencies recommend all states put more emphasis on cross-training, prioritizing essential services and improving flexibility so employees could do their jobs from home. Other areas where Arizona needs to improve are coordination among 9-1-1 call takers, first-responders (typically fire departments) and hospital triage centers. Another is working with educators and day-care centers on widespread school closures. Unlike many other states, Arizona doesn't have a centralized system in place for closing schools. The decision is typically left up to individual districts. Humble said Friday that the state will continue to work on its readiness plans in light of the government's report. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |