This is an exercise. It is not real.
Pandemic flu continues to spread throughout southeast Idaho. Attack rates are higher than yesterday, and hospitals are nearing capacity.
Today’s sickness numbers:
| July 23 |
Population |
Absenteeism Rate |
Attack Rate |
Number of people who have presented to the hospital with flu-like symptoms |
Fatalities past 24 hours |
| Bannock |
75,565 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
693 |
0 |
| Bear Lake |
6,411 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
59 |
0 |
| Bingham |
41,735 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
383 |
0 |
| Butte |
2,899 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
27 |
0 |
| Caribou |
7,304 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
67 |
0 |
| Franklin |
11,329 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
104 |
0 |
| Ft Hall |
3500 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
32 |
0 |
| Oneida |
4,125 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
38 |
0 |
| Power |
7,538 |
20.00% |
25.00% |
69 |
0 |
The Southeastern District Health Department Emergency Operations Center is open, with Operations Section reporting. They are communicating with the county emergency managers, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare epidimiologists, and the CDC as needed.
The Southeastern District Health Department is recommending that all citizens and businesses enact voluntary isolation measures and follow these three guidelines if you must interact with the public: cover your cough, stay six feet away from others, and wash your hands thoroughly for twenty seconds frequently throughout the day. Other measures to be taken include washing frequently used surfaces such as work spaces.
All readers are encouraged to leave comments.
This is an exercise. It is not real.
July 23, 2008 at 8:48 am |
Wow! 693. The hospital is now overwhelmed. Is the MRC over there helping? Is the Health Dept providing equipment , meds, vaccine etc? Has Red Cross offered to bring over cots, blankets etc? If Bannock saw 693 imagine what Harms, or Bingham or Caribou or Oneida is seeing. How about PIC or PMC Urgent Care? Also, ISU, who has already moved to an Alternate Care site and fully anticipates that if we have our campus full up and running could be seeing just as many because students tend to come in for every little thing. Once we get it under control I am prepared that the county and the hospital may ask us to gear up to take community folks. We will have equipment issues. Budgets have been cut, some drastically, at the University and there is no money to be stock piling too many supplies, especially if the risk is that it will outdate before being used-we can not absorb that cost. Also remember that the hospitals staff is down by 30-40%. Even there move might be impossible. I like Greg’s definition of Additional care site vs. Alternate Care Site.
Put on your running shoes!
July 23, 2008 at 11:51 am |
At this time wer would be in two shifts for most of the hospityal. The administration would work normal hours unless needed.
I’m putting out questionairs for the different department manager to ask what htey would be doing right now.
July 23, 2008 at 12:10 pm |
We were overwhelmed by the 69. Depending on what other ER we have (at this time we haven’t had any ER today) we possibly could handle the load. It would take some time and I would have cancealed our clinic activities and brought them up to the hospital to help the ER staff. I hope our county would have opened the alternate care site by now. ( We will open the alternate care site later this month.) I have been in e-mail contact with our county manager and working otu the details.
I have reduced our work force the 20 %in each department and worked out a schedule and moved staff around in different departments.
July 23, 2008 at 3:53 pm |
Hmm, Are any city folks talking about the drop in revenue?
This type of social distancing would close bars and many resteraunts wich generate taxes.
Gyms, YMCAs, movie theaters may also see a hit.
Have the courts closed down?
What about the Jail? Did they close down or start social distancing? (Yes this is a huge issue with lots of discussion)
Drug stores sould see a spike in meds but also have protective shields in place.
Just asking.
Yea the hospital is overwhelmed. I wonder if any IT, janitorial, or admin staff has not shown up because they do not feel safe there. Imagine what would happen if Kronos time keeping system or imaging system went down at the hospital and no one would come to fix it.
Regards,
Kobie
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor
July 23, 2008 at 4:06 pm |
Excellent observations and questions Kobie. I think it points out how interconnected everything is, the challenges of planning, and the importance of teamwork to solve these (and many other issues) as they come up (some unexpected) in real time in a pandemic.
July 23, 2008 at 7:29 pm |
Mel Johnson,
Thank you. Yes, team work is critical. Like the book “Stone soupe” if everyone throws in their part there is enough to go around. I never thought about how HN1 would affect the drug trade or prostitution. Drug trafficting is smuggling. During a pandemic teh price of everyday items like milk could skyrocket. Passing unwashed milk jugs could pass H5N1 on the milk jugs.
Sigh, we have a very interconnected system. The graph of Great Britian is worse – but it also offers alot of insight.
Many say we can not stock pile our way out of a three or four month pandemic. Yet the wide distribution of supplies solves many problems of diet, distribution and strain on city services.
Now on the upside – if many resteraunts, dentist offices, theme parks, malls and such close then that fees up alot of folks to work in hospitals or do other things.
One thing that bothers me are kids working. the young are most suseptable so using kids under 18 (candy stripers, scouts, 4-h club, etc) may not be a good idea.
What do you think?
What is anyone’s thoughts? This is teamwork
Different ideas and thoughts welcome.
Regards,
Kobie
“When six men are thinking alike – only one man is thinking” – Ret Gen. George Patten.
July 24, 2008 at 8:21 am |
Kobie:
1. “Are any city folks talking about the drop in revenue?” They are normally on top of that around here, but I can’t confirm it would be happening. Recent drops in fuel use have resulted in tax revenue drops, which is front page news this morning in our local paper.
2. ” This type of social distancing would close bars and many resteraunts wich generate taxes.” Mentioned yesterday as “service industry.”
3. “Have the courts closed down?”: That is an exercise input for today, actually.
4. What about the Jail?…” There is a lot of discussion about this, mostly in the way of other infectious diseases but it gives a good look at how they would cohort for pandemic flu. Unfortuntately, we haven’t solved the problems yet.
July 24, 2008 at 9:27 am |
Kobie: “One thing that bothers me are kids working. The young are most susceptible so using kids under 18 may not be a good idea.”
Exactly. public health’s epidemiologist provides the crucial information about which age segments are most vulnerable. Volunteers with public exposure would be selected from the least vulnerable age group (most likely elderly/retired for this scenario). A young volunteer would be good in an admin position or answering phones (like a rumor hotline), as long as they were not exposed to the public.
You bring up some good questions relating to financials. Do mortgage, food, medical, car payment, and other routine bills stop? Perhaps not all of them, which puts financial pressure on the folks that are absent or have thus far isolated themselves via shelter in place. And this may increase as the wave continues for up to three months, until public health gives the ‘all clear.’
I think it is realistic to expect that a lot of people will continue to work (in addition to those whose duties require it). Darin’s efforts to invlove employers and help them think and plan for a pandemic is important because of this. Assuming varying degrees of employer preparation and protection, I think it would be prudent for workers to obtain their own personal protective equipment – tailored to the risk of exposure in their workplace (and traveling to/from the workplace).
Local governments here normally cannot spend more than they have existing revenue for. The operative word is “normally.” In a declared disaster, local governments can issue warrants without the funds in the bank – but that is a temporary measure, and the revenue will still have to be obtained.