Plan of Action

 

Prevention and control of the Avian Flu is crucial. Governments around the world are working on the availability of anti-viral drugs, including distribution, funding, and preparedness strategies.

We sent Governor John Lynch, the Governor of New Hampshire (USA), questions about New Hampshire’s preparedness on the Avian Flu. The Governor sent us his "Plan of Action", should a pandemic such as the Avian Flu occur in the State of New Hampshire. The plan is very similar to the guidelines the Federal Government has outlined for the United States. It includes:

• Communication and coordination
  • How to communicate and educate the public
  • Coordinating with the CDC, Department of Health and Human Services and international agencies such as the WHO  in order to fund and research vaccine development
  • The chain of command for health care providers and State agencies
  • Security and crowd control
  • Levels of transmission as outlined in an Alert Matrix
• Personnel
  • Training of health workers
  • Having a back up team of physicians should the others become sick
• Facilities and supplies
  • Quarantine facilities
  • Appropriate facilities for patients
  • Insuring laboratories have the capacity to collect and deliver specimens safely
  • Insuring laboratories have the capacity to handle diagnosis
  • Distribution and availability of the necessary medical treatment
  • Mass care
  • Mass fatality care
    
• Procedures
  • A procedure for investigating contacts and cases
  • A procedure for determining if the individual in question is truly over the Avian Flu
  • A method for reporting cases and monitoring the public health
  • The protocols for operating government agencies, businesses, schools, transportation facilities a
    From the top, the package a letter from the governer came in, the letter he gave us, and a letter to the prime ministers of Thailand's provinces regarding the avian flu.
    nd hospitals
    

The Latest New Hampshire's Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan is available at The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Web Site at <http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us>