# 2132
Of late, we've heard a good deal about `shared responsibility' when it comes to preparing for a pandemic.
The concept, promoted by Federal officials, is that the task ahead is too large for the government to handle alone, and that the private sector must shoulder a large share of the burden of pandemic preparedness.
For some, I'm sure, laying the burden off on the private sector must seem like an abdication of the government's responsibilities. An admission of incompetence or worse.
A pandemic is a national security issue, after all. It shouldn't be up to the little guy; the individual or the family, or the small business owner to pony up the costs of preparedness, should it?
It simply isn't fair to be asked, as a people, to take on the responsibility for our own welfare, and that of our neighbors and our community.
That's what we pay taxes for, isn't it?
Under normal circumstances, I might even agree with that. But a pandemic is so far and above what we could consider `normal', as to require a rewriting of the rules.
Secretary of HHS Michael Leavitt is perhaps most famous for his quote:
"Any community that fails to prepare with the expectation that the federal or state government will rescue them will be tragically mistaken.
The same can be said globally for any Nation that fails to prepare and relies on others to rescue them." - Michael Leavitt June 8th, 2006
Today, I think you can easily replace the word `community' with the words `business', `agency', or even `family'.
It is a hard truth, but true none-the-less.
Our Federal, State, and local governments have finite resources, and will be hard pressed to keep the basics of our infrastructure running during a pandemic crisis. They will be tied up trying to maintain interstate transportation, our railway systems, communications, utilities, vaccine production, along with providing for local and national security.
FEMA won't be landing in your neighborhood with pallets of relief supplies for your family. Nor will they show up at your business with N95 masks, hand sanitizer, or Tamiflu for your employees so you can keep your doors open.
These are preparations you must make yourself.
There simply are not enough government employees or resources available. It isn't a cop-out to say the government can't do it all.
They really can't.
None of this is to suggest that the government couldn't do more - a lot more - than it already has done to prepare. I doubt anyone at the CDC or HHS is totally satisfied with their response.
But given the amount of lead time that the private sector will need to prepare, we really haven't the luxury of delaying while we debate the finer points of this issue.
The time for the private sector to prepare is now.
Unfortunately, at least so far, this message doesn't seem to be getting through. Not to businesses, and certainly not to families and individuals.
The belief still persists that the government will somehow come to our rescue. That they would never let anything really bad happen to our nation. That they are overstating the problem, so as not to have to deal with it.
If anything, I'm convinced the government is understating the problem.
Sure, we could get lucky and the next pandemic might not turn out to be so bad. We could see a reprise of 1957 or 1968. If that happens, we will have dodged a bullet.
But a severe pandemic, what we now refer to as a CAT 4 or CAT 5 event, would subject our society and our economy to unimaginable strain. In that sort of scenario, it would be important that every family, every community, and every business be as resilient as possible.
That can only happen if we accept our share of the responsibility to prepare. Families, and businesses alike.
I know it's expensive. I know it's damnably inconvenient as well. Preparing for a pandemic, or any other disaster, takes valuable resources away from other areas. It makes it a very tough sell, particularly in a stalling economy.
And it is an investment that, admittedly, may not pay off for years.
And yet, a failure to prepare could be catastrophic. To your business, to your family, and to your community.
That it should fall on individuals, families, businesses, and communities to prepare for a pandemic is, no doubt, unfair.
But the last time I checked, there is absolutely nothing fair about a pandemic.
