|
|
In the news...
Jennings Hospital Participates in Pandemic Flu Drill
|
09/07/07 |
|
It has been almost 40 years since the last outbreak of the flu swept the globe, killing more than one million people worldwide. But, with experts predicting a worldwide influenza outbreak (pandemic) in the very near future, state health officials and emergency response officials are testing plans to ensure that Louisiana is ready to respond to the next flu pandemic.
Jennings American Legion Hospital participated in a state-wide drill on Friday to gauge the readiness of the Office of Public Health to deal with a pandemic flu outbreak. The drill was conducted in conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, Emergency Preparedness as well as hospitals throughout the state to test the health care system’s ability to respond to a large-scale outbreak in Louisiana.
Dr. Jimmy Guidry, state health officer, says it’s critical that the ability to properly respond to a major health emergency, just as the pandemic flu, be tested at the state and local levels. “Just as we have learned about preparing for hurricanes, the reality is that it is not a matter of ‘if’ an outbreak of pandemic proportions occurs, but ‘when’ it will occur.”
According to Ruth Carnes, spokesperson for JALH, the drill had a specific scenario. “Even though it was only a drill, it needed to feel as real as possible, so OPH developed circumstances for area health care providers to handle, including the percent of infected people, current time within the outbreak period, and estimated number of fatalities,” Carnes explained.
The drill simulated the spread of the flu around the world, in the United States and in Louisiana. The exercise included various scenarios and events which might happen during an actual pandemic, including tracking the spread of the disease, public reporting, communicating health messages, setting up dispensing sites to dispense medications and properly directing the public.
JALH, along with other hospitals in Louisiana, updated their bed availability on Friday using an online tool known as EMSystem. The data was used by the drill participants to evaluate hospital bed availabilities in the various regions.
“The drill is an effective way to see how we would handle a pandemic flu situation,” said Terry Terrebonne, CEO of Jennings American Legion Hospital. “It’s an unpleasant situation that could become reality one day and we need to be ready. Our staff performed admirably, and while it pointed out a few areas where we could improve, we were pleased to see that overall, our communication and follow-through within our hospital remained strong throughout the situation. Hopefully, we will never have to actually deal with a situation similar to this, but if we do, we know we’re ready.”
According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, a large-scale pandemic could quickly overwhelm local healthcare resources. Therefore, national and state health authorities recommend pandemic planning activities to ensure community readiness and support of healthcare facilities.
|
|
|
|
