Possible Pandemic: "Swine Flu"

[Rotorhead]

Why is everyone so worried about this, when, as we've pointed out above, thousands die of "everyday" influenza every year?

Shouldn't we be panicking in the streets over THAT?

[JayT]

I was talking to my brother who is a paramedic in the local ER, what he was saying is that in order to get a confirmed case it has to be lab proved. The lab process takes a long time and if you have a lot of sick people in the ER you are not going to worry about "proving" to the CDC and WHO that you have a confirmed case, you are just going to give them the antiviral and move onto the next one.
Like other people have been saying, it is starting out slow and it MAY pickup speed. It is really just a bad flu that is more contagious then normal.

At our hospitals, they're not testing unless the patient is serious enough to be admitted.

[mfantroy]

Here in St.Louis it might get to a point if you call 911 with flu-like symptoms and the EMS crews will show up in full PPE gear.



KSDK -- Local first responders do not want to be caught off guard if the swine flu spreads to Missouri, which is why West County EMS & Fire personnel began preparing for a local outbreak Tuesday morning.

Their biggest concern is making sure first responders stay healthy while they respond to potential swine flu patients. In the event people start calling 911 with flu-like symptoms, emergency crews will show up in full face masks, gloves, eyewear and protective gowns.

First responders say if an outbreak happens here, communication will be a top concern.

But right now the technology isn't there to let different departments, like West County and St Louis City, for example, to talk directly to each other. That's one problem they're already working to overcome.

"It's not like we'd be totally in the dark, no," says West County EMS & Fire Community Liaison Officer Kim Bacon. "We have plans in place to overcome the obstacle of communication. It is, however, delayed. It would be ideal, in a world where money wasn't an option, if we could all talk directly to each other. All disciplines, all departments, all the time."

One of those plans is to set up inter-agency communication centers to facilitate communication in the event of a pandemic.

The St. Louis County Health Department is also stepping up their surveillance of local hospitals and doctors offices to make sure they can stomp out any potential outbreak right away.

KSDK

[Gunner C]

Since Mexico is the land of my forefathers, I'm wondering . . . are these cases appearing predominately in Hispanic neighborhoods?  There's precious little that's actually being reported on the specifics of the spread of the piggie flu.  I was wondering if some sort of misguided PC junk is keeping good advice from being sent forward.  If there is any indication that this is the case, Hispanic neighborhoods need to be targeted for resources.

Our wonderful government already missed the boat with this epidemic - they figured out what's going on a couple of weeks late.  The Mexico City embassy was asleep.  Lo siento, y'all (South American Spanish phrase of the day).

[EMT-83]

^ From what I've heard, people infected were in Mexico on vacation or business. There's been nothing reported about certain ethnic groups being more susceptible than others.

One suspected case involves an adult with children in the same school system as some of our cadets. Let me think... who did I shake hands with?

[davidsinn]

Just for giggles does anyone know what Fed.gov's plan for rapid emergency deployment of a vaccine is?

I will give the answer tomorrow. 

[SJFedor]

I was talking to my brother who is a paramedic in the local ER, what he was saying is that in order to get a confirmed case it has to be lab proved. The lab process takes a long time and if you have a lot of sick people in the ER you are not going to worry about "proving" to the CDC and WHO that you have a confirmed case, you are just going to give them the antiviral and move onto the next one.
Like other people have been saying, it is starting out slow and it MAY pickup speed. It is really just a bad flu that is more contagious then normal.

At our hospitals, they're not testing unless the patient is serious enough to be admitted.

Part of our triage in the ER now is asking if they've been to certain areas affected by this (NYC, Mexico, Certain counties in TX and CA) as well as if they've got any symptoms of the flu. If they do, we pretty much treat them like every other flu patient, slap a surgical mask on them, try and get them out of the waiting room as quickly as possible, and send nasal and throat cultures.

I doubt this is gonna be nearly as bad as the media is marking it up to be, but oh well.

[cap235629]

here is a wrinkle to think about...

Air travel.

My wife and kids recently all came home from a trip to Philadelphia.  They were feeling fine.  After 4 flights they all had upper respiratory infections.

There is no air filtration in pressurized cabins on commercial aircraft.  EVERYONE is breathing the same recirculated air.

So all it would take is for 1 person on 1 flight to be a carrier and the exposure grows exponentially!

[MikeD]

here is a wrinkle to think about...

Air travel.

My wife and kids recently all came home from a trip to Philadelphia.  They were feeling fine.  After 4 flights they all had upper respiratory infections.

There is no air filtration in pressurized cabins on commercial aircraft.  EVERYONE is breathing the same recirculated air.

So all it would take is for 1 person on 1 flight to be a carrier and the exposure grows exponentially!

Scarey in general, but can the flu de joure be spread by airborne exposure?

[cap235629]

yes

[davidsinn]

Just for giggles does anyone know what Fed.gov's plan for rapid emergency deployment of a vaccine is?

I will give the answer tomorrow. 

Ok looks like there were no takers. The answer is:.....

They will mail it.


No joke. The USPS is the method of choice. Think of it this way: they already have a distribution system set up that hits every last part of the country. As a consequence mail carriers will be some of the first vaccinated should the bovine excrement hit the fan.

[capchiro]

I have heard of a recent exercise wherein CAP was requested to fly medical personnel and certain baggage in their possession (vaccine type) from one place to another in an atttempt to expidite same..

[davidsinn]

I have heard of a recent exercise wherein CAP was requested to fly medical personnel and certain baggage in their possession (vaccine type) from one place to another in an atttempt to expidite same..

I can see how we would speed up a point distribution but you can't beat the mail to get something to every hospital and clinic in a short amount of time.

[JayT]

You know, for a nurse, you should know better then to post something so inflammatory. That's just fear mongering.

I would like to echo Capt. Hiles response: Which part do you take exception too? Please clarify.

/r
Sandman
RN,PHN,BSN, and a few other letters....

Because people are already scared. For example, last night, and the night before, I did tours of duty in the Peds ER of a hospital in the next county over, close to NYC. Tueday night, perhaps one in every ten kids who came in had 'flu like symptoms' came in with a duck mask on, the staff looked'em over, sent them home.

Last night, it was one in every three kids, and the waiting room was full of people wearing duck masks. Kids who had no possibility of getting the flu, and none of the symptons were taking up beds for kids who were really sick and needed help. Now, of course this happens every few months (MRSA, SARS, Avian flu, head injuries aka Natasha Richardson Symptom.)

But, of course, it still put's a strain on EMS and hospital resources.

My exception came from the fact that, as medical professionals, we should be encouraging people to trust the medical system, and to listern to it's advice and warnings. Encourage people to take precautions, be careful, and to only go to the hospitals or clinics if they have symptoms that are really bad. Saying that 'FEMA will not be able to help' so early in this incident is implying that the medical services can't handle the situation, and will only cause more panic, more people rushing to the ER because they're kid has the sniffles because they ignore proper advice. And, of course we all know that staying in the hospital is a good way to pick up a nosocomical infection.

Also, I fear that some cadet on this site will read that, and spread it among his/her squadron and parents that a CAP nursing officers are already saying that the government isn't able to handle the problem.

Confidance in the system is what's needed.

If you guy's think I'm wrong with my logic, please email me and I'd love to discuss it with someone more experienced in the field.

But then again, I'm just a lowely EMT-CC student who's degree is going to be in psychology. I don't have all of the cool letters yet. :-p

[cnitas]

I get why 'fear mongering' is bad, but what part of Capt Hiles response was 'fear mongering'?

[Spike]

The SBA sent my small business 2 forms to complete and send back to CDC/ State Department telling them who runs the business and what employees are essential.  I have never seen such forms before in all my business owning experience. 

[Rotorhead]

here is a wrinkle to think about...

Air travel.

My wife and kids recently all came home from a trip to Philadelphia.  They were feeling fine.  After 4 flights they all had upper respiratory infections.

There is no air filtration in pressurized cabins on commercial aircraft.  EVERYONE is breathing the same recirculated air.

So all it would take is for 1 person on 1 flight to be a carrier and the exposure grows exponentially!

Just like with regular influenza.

Which kills many more people every year than "swine flu."

[Smithsonia]

Part of what is going on is:
1. a plethora of news coverage... most of it is reasonable... but the amount of coverage is over the top. Watch less news (1 hour a day) and you'll find yourself sleeping easier.

2. Part of it is: TV sweeps period is underway. May is always a ratings period. We love it when you watch the cliff hangars and series sign-offs. In TV news, we love November Hurricanes, we adore wars during February (the Gulf War was Feb '91 and the run up to Gulf War 2 was in Feb 2003. These are significant TV ratings periods. If we can get you to watch a few extra minutes per day... we make lot's of money.

3. People hear what they want to hear. There is part of us that enjoys the exhilaration of communal fear. We watch horror movies and talk about the misfortunes of others for the same reasons. I've often thought that partially this was the fault of us in TV. It is not. Take responsibility for your own dubious existential worries. You don't know the little girls that seem to disappear weekly but constantly reappear on Nancy Grace. You don't know the fallen Hollywood starlet or druggie pro-athlete either. Most of our fears are of our own imaginings. If you don't like this about yourself... then stop it. We are herd animals and it is part of our psyche. BUT, we do have control over this piece of business.

Written by a 43 year TV Professional in the field of News Promotion.

[N Harmon]

I've been laughing to this all week.

http://xkcd.org/574/

[SarDragon]

I've been laughing to this all week.

http://xkcd.org/574/

Here's the mouse-over text:

"Bad flu epidemics can hit young adults hardest because they provoke their powerful immune systems into overreaction, so to stay healthy spend the next few weeks drunk and sleep-deprived to keep yours suppressed."