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HEALTH: Virtual Virus: The Flu Has Hit, Now What? Exercise Gets Local Agencies Talking

Posted on: Thursday, 16 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Susanne Nadeau, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Mar. 16--In some future scenario, a strain of bird flu, passing human to human, has been discovered. Local, state and national agencies are on alert, and they have to know just how to handle it, should it reach pandemic levels.

It's a fictitious scenario - used to spur dialogue about the possibility, but still, it gets stomachs churning and has some people counting canned goods in the pantry.

The discussion was part of a "tabletop exercise," and representatives attended from the Grand Forks Police Department, Altru Health System, area school systems and Polk County and Grand Forks County emergency management.

A room at the Alerus Center was filled Wednesday, and an empty table stood in the middle of the room, set aside for officials to take part in the dialogue.

A group of about 20 people took center stage in each scenario, and discussed just what is in place right now that could combat a major flu pandemic.

A pandemic is what happens when an epidemic spreads across a large area or around the world. The last flu pandemic was in 1918. It killed 25 million over six months.

"We're primarily looking at coordinating among local agencies to understand their response to a pandemic," said the exercise facilitator, Adam Powers. Powers was working through risk-management consultant Nick of Time from Bismarck.

"It helps folks understand their roles," he said.

The exercise went through how a fast-spreading deadly flu virus would be identified, who would be keeping an eye out for it and how the public would be notified of its presence in the community.

Local officials pondered questions of quarantine, when it would happen and where. And people talked about where people afflicted with the flu could be housed, and how they would be taken care of if vast numbers of people became sick.

Lastly, the group talked about the aftermath of pandemic flu - like how to handle the dead in a safe manner.

"We're trying to bring the key players together for a mini-tabletop discussion," Powers said. "Our primary role is just helping them to see if they are prepared to deal with an issue of this scale."

Nadeau can be reached at (701) 780-1118, (800) 477-6572, ext. 118; or snadeau@gfherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

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