Pandemic Flu - Jeff Patterson

Disaster Planning for Pandemic Flu
by Jeff Patterson, MCSE, MCDBA, CDIA+, BOL Guru

You've prepared for the worst. You're ready for robberies, hostage situations, extended power failures, long term communication loss, fire, floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and even nuclear strikes. But are you ready for the flu? Maybe it's time. We have some information and resources you'll want to be familiar with.

Not just any flu, pandemic flu. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the flu kills 35,000 to 40,000 Americans every year. Another 200,000 are hospitalized. A pandemic flu is much more serious than normal flu outbreaks and occurs only a few times each century. The CDC estimates that a "medium-level" pandemic flu may cause up to 207,000 deaths in the United States. Another 725,000 hospitalizations and 20-47 million people being sick, with an economic impact in the range of $71 - $166 billion. A pandemic flu could easily leave 25-30% of the workforce ill for an extended period. And the experts agree; we are overdue for our next pandemic.

In the 20th Century, there were three pandemics:

The Spanish flu of 1918-1919 was the worst of the pandemics causing over 500,000 deaths in the US and up to 50 million worldwide. Over half of those who died were young, healthy adults.

The Asian flu of 1957-58 caused about 70,000 deaths in the US.

And the Hong Kong flu from 1968-69 caused nearly 34,000 American deaths.

The latest version of the flu believed to have pandemic potential is the avian H5N1 strain. This strain has infected approximately 100 people since 1997, with half of those infected dying. It has also caused the greatest number and most severe outbreaks among poultry in history. Large numbers of wild birds are dying from this extremely deadly strain. Although the strain does not jump easily from avian to human at this time, experts fear that it could evolve into a strain that spreads as easily as the normal flu.

Unlike most disaster scenarios, with pandemic flu, your main concern is not the loss of equipment or operations facilities, but instead the people necessary to make it all work. So how do you prepare for a pandemic that could leave you without 30% of your workforce for weeks or months?

Review your Business Continuity Plan, determine the impact that long term illnesses will have on operations and update the plan accordingly.
Appoint a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities.
Identify critical functions and essential employees required to continue normal operations by location.
Cross train employees from multiple locations with minimal face-to-face contact to be able to fill these essential roles.
Determine what functions could be conducted remotely and provide for secure access in the event of a pandemic.
Review personnel policies for sick leave compensation and guidelines for when employees are allowed to return to work after a pandemic illness. This may be one time it pays to pay employees for extended illness.
Have posters and other material available to educate your employees on proper hygiene in the event of virus outbreaks.
Collaborate with authorities to participate in the planning process and to be more aware of potential threats.

The above list is just a small sample of what needs to be done in the event of a pandemic flu. A complete business oriented checklist from the CDC may be found at: CDC Business Continuity Checklist for Pandemics.

More information on pandemic flu may be found at:
PandemicFlu.gov
CDC Pandemic Influenza: Worldwide Preparedness
WHO: Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza

An excellent source for information on Business Continuity Planning is available from BOL Guru Dana Turner at: Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Planning

The FFIEC's Business Continuity Planning IT Handbook may be found at: FFIEC's Business Continuity Planning IT Handbook

And the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems may be found here: NIST Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems

First published on BankersOnline.com 12/12/05