Summit sparked conversation about preparedness
The San Benito Public Health Department is still working closely
with local schools to prepare for possible pandemic flu months
after a half-day summit on the topic was hosted at the Hollister
School District.
Summit sparked conversation about preparedness
The San Benito Public Health Department is still working closely with local schools to prepare for possible pandemic flu months after a half-day summit on the topic was hosted at the Hollister School District.
“Some schools have called and asked us to come out and do presentations with different populations,” said Samela Perez, head of health education programs at the San Benito County Public Health Services department. “We have worked with schools – even preschools.”
The Oct. 12 summit, co-sponsored by the County Office of Education, brought together more than 70 school administrators and other staff members from every part of the county. At the event, public health staff explained the difference between seasonal flu and pandemic influenza. Pandemic flu is a new flu strain that humans have no immunity to that spreads quickly from person to person and would infect up to 30 percent of the population over a one- to three-year span. Three pandemics occurred in the 20th Century – the worst was the Spanish Flu of 1918.
The recent summit introduced school staff to other resources in the community in preparing for emergencies, such as an infection control nurse from Hazel Hawkins hospital and the head of the County’s Office of Emergency Services.
Public Health Division staff also attended the monthly County Rural Principal meeting Oct. 18 to present the information to the group. Many of the rural schools have only one or two staff members who could not miss half a day of work to attend the summit.
One of the main reasons for sharing the information with schools and encouraging them to come up with their own plan rather than imposing a generic county-wide plan for all schools is the unique challenges each school has, Perez said.
“San Benito High School has a very different population from Bitterwater-Tully,” Perez said. “If nothing else, they need to have a plan. We want them to start pushing and thinking about if they have to keep their kids home what will that look like.”
At least one school district slated the topic for discussion at a recent school board meeting. North County Joint Union School District had the item on the agenda for their Dec. 6 meeting. Staff could not be reached for comment by press time.
For the public health staff, the emphasis has been on preparing schools to deal with any emergency since many of the same principles apply.
“Emergency preparedness for one disaster crosses over to others,” Perez said. “We can learn from Katrina and other things that happened that being prepared is important.”
The American Red Cross even sells a variety of emergency preparedness kits that are already stocked with first aid items, water and other supplies for up to 72 hours. Water and food are key items that will need to be stockpiled in case of pandemic flu.
“We always think of the grocery stores as full because we’ve never seen them without food,” Perez said. “If shiploads of food can’t get to stores because staff is out sick – we’ve heard that up to 30 or 40 percent of the workforce could be out – the stores could be without food.”
One goal among public health and emergency preparedness workers is to get people who can prepare to do it soon so that resources can be left to the more needy in the community.
“We have the knowledge to take care of ourselves,” Perez said. “We can leave the resources of the American Red Cross and Community Pantry to those people who are unable to take care of themselves.”
The department is planning another summit in May that will again answer questions about pandemic flu and offer tips on planning for it.
Feedback on the first summit was positive. Many of those in attendance agreed that schools should start working with the district offices, staff and parents to get the information out now.
“Like the facilitator said, this could happen in four days,” wrote one participant on an evaluation form. “We need to be prepared ahead of time.”
Melissa Flores can be reached at
mf*****@pi**********.com
.
