Report outlines H1N1 response
Posted Aug 10, 2010 04:22:10 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Waterloo Region’s Public Health Department has learned a few things about how to respond to a pandemic.
Public Health is submitted a report to Regional Council today called, “H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Response: Lessons Learned.”
The report outlines several changes the department would like Council to approve.
The key changes include:
– ensure clinic sites are chosen that have adequate space for indoor line ups
– have better signage and parking at the sites
– develop a staff training plan
– coordinate scheduling of staff centrally, and lighten regular workloads for those working on an emergency
– improve communication
– create four specific management roles at clinics with job sheets
The report calls the H1N1 flu virus pandemic “the most significant human health emergency since the SARS outbreak in 2003.”
But given the mild to moderate nature of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, only a few portions of the Community Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan were activated.
Public Health’s response lasted nine months, and saw more than 29 per cent of the Region’s population immunized against H1N1.
