Not sure if most people saw the article in USA Today, but health officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention made a disturbing new projection that up to 40% of Americans could get H1N1 (swine flu) this year and next….and several hundred thousand could die if a successful vaccine campaign is not ready.
These projections for the US are nearly twice the number of people that catch the flu bug in a normal season.
Is your organization prepared? Has your organization performed assessments to determine what could happen and what would need to happen if up to 40% of its staff was sick or home with sick family members?
Has your organization developed plans and responsibilities to ensure everyone knows what to do in different situations so your organization is prepared to prevent, respond and recover?
Has your organization considered how they are going to implement the results of your assessments and the details of your plans and responsibilities? In other words, do all managers, employees at work, employees at home, partners, contractors, vendors, service providers, community organizations, municipalities, law enforcement and other third-parties know what to do, when to do things, who should do what, where to go and why?
Now that officials in Europe are seeing more H1N1 flu cases and fast-tracking a vaccine, managers in the US should take note and immediately begin updating and implementing their Pandemic Flue plans and responsibilities to be better prepared for the upcoming flu season.
And one more thing…schools can very quickly become germ factories for the flu and school season is just around the corner.