Pandemic Flu and Emergency Preparedness Resources
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) plays a significant role in evacuation of people from locations in times of emergencies. Many of the Web links below will provide resources related to pandemic flu and disaster preparedness plans. Some of these products are drafts or works in progress. The FTA’s lead on Pandemic Flu matters is Ken Lord at 202-366-2836 or email@example.com.
A Framework for Improving Cross-Sector Coordination for Emergency Preparedness and Response, July 2008 - Disaster preparedness plans have the potential to protect at-risk populations from harm and maintain or quickly restore the routines and functions of civil society. But even the most thorough and prescient plan will fall short if it does not reach across professional jurisdictions and agencies. Located at http://www2.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/CDC_BJA_Framework.pdf.
At PandemicFlu.Gov, there is a one-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information. Definitions of flu are:
Avian flu (AI) or Bird flu. Bird flu viruses infect birds, including chickens, other poultry and wild birds such as ducks. It is caused by influenza viruses that occur naturally among wild birds. Low pathogenic AI is common in birds and causes few problems. Highly pathogenic H5N1 is deadly to domestic fowl, can be transmitted from birds to humans, and is deadly to humans. There is virtually no human immunity and human vaccine availability is very limited.
Pandemic flu is virulent human flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness. Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu.
Seasonal (or common) flu is a respiratory illness that can be transmitted person to person. Most people have some immunity, and a vaccine is available. Home page is located at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/.
Pandemic Influenza - Preparedness, Response, and Recovery - Guide for critical infrastructure and key resources. This Sector-specific guideline is an annex to the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Guide for Critical
Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR Pandemic Influenza Guide) and intends to assist the owners and operators within the Mass Transit Sub-Sector of the Transportation Sector with planning for a catastrophic pandemic influenza. Organizations that fail to prepare for such a prolonged catastrophic event may find themselves without the staff, equipment, or supplies necessary to continue providing essential transportation services for their customers and the nation. For a copy of the complete CIKR Pandemic Influenza Guide, please see http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/pdf/cikrpandemicinfluenzaguide.pdf. Locate this presentation at http://www.dot.gov/pandemicflu/pdf/masstransit.pdf.
National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan, Summary of Progress, December 2006 - This document consists of a compendium of actions due to be completed within 6 months of the release of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan (Implementation Plan), along with responses from Departments and Agencies. The actions are reproduced from the Implementation Plan. Each action is followed by a summary of progress, in italics, prepared by the relevant Department(s) and Agency(ies) for this report. The assessment is indicated directly after the action number. A determination of “complete” indicates that the measure of performance has been met, but does not necessarily mean that work has ended; in many cases work is ongoing. Located at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/federal/stratergyimplementationplan.html.
Emergency Preparedness Guide for Transit Employees on the Job and at Home - Transit employees may have to stay on the job should an emergency or disaster strike. Transit agencies should also make every effort to inform their employees to be involved, be alert and be prepared. Located at http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/Publications/order/singledoc.asp?docid=862.
The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation: Special Report 294, explores the roles that transit systems can play in accommodating the evacuation, egress, and ingress of people from and to critical locations in times of emergency. The report focuses on major incidents that could necessitate a partial to full evacuation of the central business district or other large portion of an urban area. According to the committee that produced the report, transit agencies could play a significant role in an emergency evacuation, particularly in transporting carless and special needs populations, but few urban areas have planned for a major disaster and evacuation that could involve multiple jurisdictions or multiple states in a region, or have focused on the role of transit and other public transportation providers in such an incident. The report offers recommendations for making transit a full partner in emergency evacuation plans and operations, while cautioning emergency managers, elected officials, and the general public to be realistic in their expectations, particularly in a no-notice incident that occurs during a peak service period. Located at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr294.pdf.
Johns Hopkins’ Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) is offering a free Web-based tool it developed to predict the impact on individual hospitals of a flu epidemic, bioterrorist attack, flood or plane crash, accounting for such elements as numbers of victims, germ-carrying wind patterns, available medical resources, bacterial incubation periods and bomb size.
Electronic Mass Casualty Assessment and Planning Scenarios (EMCAPS) software program is believed to be the first that generates the anticipated outcomes of disaster-planning scenarios developed by the Department of Homeland Security. The program can be downloaded from the CEPAR Web site, http://www.hopkins-cepar.org/EMCAPS/EMCAPS.html.
For further information, contact Region 10’s Linda Gehrke at (206) 220-4463 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.