Pandemic Flu Preparedness
The treatment of large scale disaster is a phenonmenon that Americans have become alarming aware of and have put protocols in place to improve our emergency preparedness efforts.
Many of the proactive measures do not sufficiently address the potential event of a silent, easily spread and undetermined duration of a pandemic flu outbreak and the potential disruption to the daily way of life for many people. The last severe outbreak of panemic flu occurred in 1918 and 1919 with an estimated mortality of 30-50 million globally, more than 675,000 being US casualities.
Differing from terrorism and large catastrophic storms, the flu is regarded as harmless, treatable and common. Unfortunately, the potential for large scale illness is far greater than the general public can expect. The public health community has an obligation to effectively provide sufficient information to insure proactive preparedness in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.
Here are some examples of community disruption that took place in New York State in October 1918, the oldest recorded pandemic flu outbreak:
- During the week of November 1st, 12,357 deaths from flu were reported in New York City.
- In six weeks, a total of 30,736 deaths were reported. The actual number of influenza-related deaths during this period was probably much higher. For 1918, the overall death rate in New York State was among the highest ever recorded for the state.
- In Rochester, during the height of the pandemic, there were at least 213 deaths in the course of one week.
- In an attempt to provide citizens with medical care, the junior and senior classes of the University of Buffalo Medical school were pressed into service on October 16th. Shortly afterwards, the sophomore class was directed to join them. All nurses, including those who had married and left the profession, were also required to report for duty.
- City officials banned all public gatherings of more than ten people. Theaters, churches, schools, saloons and dance halls were all closed.
- The mayor also prohibited public funerals and, in an attempt to limit the spread of influenza, burials were required to occur within twenty-five hours of death.
- The Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum was quickly filled with 600 children, most of them orphaned by the pandemic.
- Influenza rates gradually declined across the state during the late fall. The disease, however, remained prevalent throughout the state during the winter and spring. By the summer of 1919, influenza had slowly begun to disappear from the state.
Let's not let it happen again. As an effort to increase proactive awareness and education, the New York State Public Health Association has teamed with the American Public Health Association to expand the reach of preparedness information by becoming active particpants in the get ready campaign promoting disaster preparedness for all New Yorkers.
