Sec. Leavitt Warns That USA Is Not Prepared For Pandemic; Homecare Will Play Role In Response

Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 20 Apr 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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"The fact of the matter is, when it comes to pandemics, we are overdue and we are under-prepared," warned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt at a forum yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

If a pandemic the scale of the 1918 Spanish flu were to break out now, Leavitt said, "45 million Americans would become sick enough that they would require some kind of serious medical attention, whether that was a clinic visit or a hospital stay. Regrettably, roughly 2 million people would die." Among other issues, Leavitt specifically mentioned the need for ventilators if the bird flu breaks out. "Ventilators is something that one needs to worry about in a situation like this."

As plainly demonstrated by the response to Hurricane Katrina, homecare will play a critical role as first-responders - and second responders - in any large-scale disaster requiring healthcare, whether a flu pandemic or some other event.

At a planning summit for local officials in South Carolina last month, Leavitt said, "Home health care providers will provide critical services during an influenza pandemic. Their ability to care for people at home and help reduce stresses on overburdened hospitals will be a key element in effectively dealing with a pandemic. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in their organizations now and building community contacts in advance will provide a strategic advantage if a pandemic influenza strikes."

A "Home Health Care Services Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist" is available at the Pandemic Flu website run by HHS at:
www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/healthcare.html

Yesterday, Leavitt noted that the current H5N1 virus or avian flu being spread by birds is very similar to the deadly 1918 flu virus. However, at this point, H5N1 is not readily transmitted among humans.

He finished his remarks with some sobering words about the reality of disaster response in the U.S. "Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government or, for that matter, the state government will be able to step forward and come to their rescue at the final hour, will be tragically wrong, not because the government will lack a will, not because we will lack a collective wallet, but because there is no way that you can respond to every hometown in America at the same time."

Disaster preparedness was one of the key topics of discussion at last month's Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association quarterly meeting last month and will be a topic at the upcoming Georgia Association for Medical Equipment Services meeting. Many homecare providers throughout the country are working on disaster plans and protocols and should also be connecting with state and county public health offices and other healthcare stakeholders to be part of local disaster-preparedness planning. For a list of state public health offices, visit www.pandemicflu.gov/state/statecontacts.html.

American Association for Homecare
625 Slaters Lane, Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22314-1171 703-535-1881
http://www.aahomecare.org

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