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The Southeastern District Health Department's BlogEx pandemic flu exercise continues today, with a focus on people with special needs during a crisis.
Over the past 5 days more than 120 comments have been posted, along with a lot of very good information. If you haven't been visiting, now is a good time to catch up.
July 18: Planning For Special Populations
July 18, 2008THIS IS AN EXERCISE. IT IS NOT REAL.
First, a short exercise note: The second mock news video will be posted on Monday. Please be sure to visit to view the mock newscast for a great educational opportunity. Also, on Monday we begin posting numbers of sick in each of the southeast Idaho counties. Citizens will be able to see what the projected numbers for sickness are. The hospitals will receive these numbers and use them to train personnel on a new bed tracking software system recently fielded statewide.
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A disaster can affect people in many different ways, and for some people it can mean a matter of life and death.
- Suppose there was a fire in a building and you were on the top floor and in a wheelchair, and the elevators cannot be used. How do you get to safety?
- Maybe there is an earthquake. As an elderly person, you get trapped in rubble but are otherwise ok. How do you call for help?
- Or it could be one of Idaho’s winter storms with 50mph winds that knocks down electrical poles, taking out power at many of our rural farms, leaving the residents possibly with no heat.
- In the case of this blogex, there is pandemic flu and regular assistance resources are no longer operating because of staffing and supply issues. What are the backup resources?
The above situations show the importance of planning for special populations. Government agencies must review demographics and plan to assist people with special needs after an emergency or disaster.
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