# 907
While the National Pandemic Leadership Blog and the HHS ponder how best to get the preparedness message out to the public, some states are already taking action.
In Minnesota, the state has launched a major `all threats' preparedness campaign, with a website encouraging families to stock up on at least 1 month worth of essential supplies. There is a food calculator available to help families plan for people and pets.
This from Star Tribune.
Ready for that disaster? State wants you to be
The "Code Ready" campaign is encouraging Minnesotans to put together hefty survival kits.
By Pam Louwagie, Star Tribune
Last update: June 17, 2007 – 9:54 PM
Box upon box of pasta and rice, a couple hundred cans of fruits and vegetables, 120 gallons of water. Powdered milk. A first aid kit. A lantern. A weather radio. Plastic sheeting. Duct tape. Bleach.
All in your basement.
State health and public safety officials want Minnesotans to stock up in case of a flu pandemic, terrorism emergency or other widespread disaster. They've launched a $500,000 state campaign dubbed "Code Ready" encouraging Minnesotans to develop plans of action and assemble survival kits for emergencies small and large -- from three days to a year.
The suggested stored servings of food for mom, dad and two kids for a month rivals the inventory of a small minimart: 780 of grain, 240 of fruit, 360 of vegetables, 360 of dairy and 660 of protein foods such as meat, dried beans and nuts.
"It's ridiculous. It's just way too much stuff for anybody to have at home. I can't imagine what they're having us prepare for," said Tracy Eberly, who lives in south Minneapolis. "If society breaks down to the point where we need all that food, trust me, we've got other problems."
State officials say they understand people's ability to store things will vary. And while there's no imminent threat of disaster, they're doing the campaign as part of a continuing effort to improve readiness.
Funded by the Legislature last year, the campaign is being advertised on billboards, radio and through "viral marketing" with teams in a Code Ready SUV canvassing the state.
As of last week, about 1,700 people had gone through the site's pages to create their own kits. Ten times that number have viewed parts of the site, officials said, with hits coming even from Asia, Africa and Australia.
The comments by Tracy Eberly in the above article illustrate that the state needs to do a better job conveying the threat if they expect people to prepare. The Code Ready site is very good on preparation, but doesn't really get into why a flu pandemic would require these sorts of supplies.
In Louisiana this week, 1.6 million Flu pamphlets have been mailed out in 3 languages, attempting to reach every household in the state.
Guide offers ways to battle flu
New strain could kill as many as 6,000 in Louisiana
Marsha Sills Want to know how to prepare for the flu pandemic?The answers should be in your mailbox in the next few days.
On Monday, the Department of Health and Hospitals mailed out more than 1.6 million copies of a pandemic flu preparedness guide as part of the state's efforts to prepare for the pending worldwide outbreak of a new strain of influenza.
"When this new strain of the flu emerges, the population has no immunity to this strain," said Dr. Tina Stefanski, regional public health director. "That's why people get sicker, and it causes a worldwide outbreak."
The guide shares tips on how to prepare and prevent the spread of flu - including good hygiene, like washing hands after coughing or sneezing, but also to stay home when you're sick.
Health officials say it's not a matter of if the pandemic occurs but when it will pop up and spread across the United States.
It's estimated that as many as 6,000 people in Louisiana could die from a new flu virus and at least 22,000 may be hospitalized, according to the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
Officials began preparing for a possible pandemic last year. Regionally, including in Lafayette, health and community officials met for a tabletop exercise on how to prepare the community and contain the disease, which likely would include canceling school and other mass public gatherings.
The effect of those either hospitalized or who stay at home to care for the sick could mean mass closures and at least 25 percent of the state's workforce unable to show up for work, according to the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
This is a laudable attempt on the part of the state to inform the public, but I'm disappointed that they have elected to water down the numbers from the Federal estimates.
For planning purposes, the Federal government has been using a 35% attack rate, a 10% hospitalization rate, and a 2% fatality rate.
Based on the population (4.3 million) and a similar attack rate, Louisiana apparently believes the hospitalization and fatality rate will be 1/5th of what the Federal government fears.
I hope Louisiana is right, but betting on that is like betting that the levees will hold. Great if you are right, a catastrophe if you are wrong.
The inconsistencies in how each state addresses the pandemic issue, and the failure to fully explain the potential damage one could cause, are prime reasons why most people don't take the threat seriously.
