North Dakota Prepares In Case of Flu Pandemic
October 24, 2007 by mimmson
Filed under Flu Pandemic - Top News Stories
We`re heading into the annual flu season, and doctors often urge their patient to get a vaccine.
Many people don`t bother, which can make them vulnerable, and the shot may not protect you against an unexpected strain of the virus.
If North Dakota is hit by a pandemic flu, agencies across the state want to make sure residents will be okay.
The North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, the Department of Health and the National Guard are working on ways to synchronize their responses and determine if others need to be part of the team as well.
Alan, a pandemic flu could pose a workforce problem.
Emergency Services says if an engineer at a water treatment plant got sick during a pandemic flu, thousands of people could go without water.
It says that`s just one example of why agencies are working now to make sure they can respond effectively in the event of a pandemic flu.
If a Pandemic Flu hits, the Department of Emergency Services says it will be a worldwide problem. And North Dakota won`t be immune.
“Though nothing is physically happening out on the ground there are people injecting messages as if something was occurring out there in the field,” saus Greg Wilz of ND Homeland Security.
It`s a new scenario to see if a their plan needs to be altered.
“Certainly there are a lot of aspects that are going to pull us through an event like this,” Wilz says. “From agencies being well prepared and working together and resourced properly to the personal preparedness of individuals.”
Leiutenant Mike Gerhart of the North Dakota Highway Patrol says if people aren`t prepared, problems could arise.
“There could be issues where people would panic,” Gerhart says. “There`s also issues with traffic and security issues that we would need to address.”
Still, there`s a lot of work to be done.
“Truly at this point and time it`s too early to tell if we`ll be all ok,” Wilz says. “We`re definitely going to have loss of life in a pandemic event.”
So as a group they`re making sure everything`s in place to respond to a real event.
