Two strands are coming together this week, rather accidentally but auspiciously, maybe.
I was in the Ethics workshop in DC these past 2 days. There were the usual suspects, you know, state, federal, scientists, some half-way clued-up, some not, and the usual range of insightful, extremely pertinent remarks (DA Henderson), pleas to look at the big picture, aka security of supply chain, global issues (Osterholm), and someone passionate who couldn’t keep her mouth shut (yours truly here).
Anyhow, it seemed we all agreed (I think) that it was a good idea to get the public informed and engaged, if only for the fact that the difficulties of pandemic mitigation and the hard choices that have to be made are beginning to filter into the minds of some of the officials, (and hopefully keeping them awake nights).
So. I thought we should take them at their word.
I know that among the audience there are some (number unknown) who are genuinely and actively exploring ways of engaging citizens, not just momentarily, but to build ongoing partnerships that will eventually provide the framework within which difficult choices and dilemmas such as triage can be discussed, and co-operative actions can be initiated.
I think it is a healthy thing. And I think we should help them.
The second strand is the launch of our Pandemic Flu Awareness Week 2006 campaign.
So I would like to suggest those of you who are doing any local publicity, to seek out your local officials and at least inform them of this campaign, and invite them to participate. Even if they are not going to be giving out cards like you, invite them to visit our site, start a conversation, stay in touch with them by email or whatever.
Be friendly. Be patient. Be helpful. Be aware that if they have any pandemic related responsibilities, they are now either going through or will soon be going through their first ‘adjustment reactions’. Be a resource, not a burden.
This idea of ‘citizen engagement’ or ‘citizens as partners’ is here to stay, out of necessity, IMHO. Even if your local official is not receptive at the moment, at some point in the near future (I hope) he will receive communications from ‘upstairs’ telling him to do that. And if you’ve made the approach now, he might remember that you are someone whom he can count on to not freak out and might actually help him.
That is the point when you will be able to begin helping your community most effectively.
Please use this thread for ideas on how to enhance this bridge-building process.
Remember that come a pandemic, (almost) all solutions will be local. And ‘local’ is where we need to bank our goodwill and creativity and energy.
anon_22 Just a brief note from another flu wikian who attended the Ethics Workshop. We are very lucky to have such an informed and committed advocate as you to speak publicly to the issues so forcefully. Thank you for your advocacy at the conference and all that you’re doing with the wiki! I will post more tomorrow when I recover from the conference and the journey home.
Good for you Annon_22! I bet you did an amazing job of getting your points across. I hope we will see a ramping up of the risk communications level and that everyday citizens finally get the bigger picture.
This evening I went to a lecture at my local library on disaster preparedness. The event was announced in the library flyer that goes to every household in my area. The speaker had excellent credentials, a published author,who has written a book on the topic, former Chairman of my state’s Disaster Preparedness Commission, state and federal consultant,etc.
Unfortunately, only 5 women turned out for the event (including me) The others were ‘newbies’, some got confused over seasonal flu and H5N1 pandemic, very little understanding of what to prep or even why to prep. Due to the small crowd we sat informally with him and I was able to interject some salient points. It was a good introduction to the concept of a pandemic. With my comments he did get into a little more depth on some of the issues. He told folks to prep for 2 weeks but added or “or more” after my comment. He said that vaccine would be ready after 1st wave. He told the women that after 2 weeks the government had plans to bring food into the area so that people wouldn’t starve. He told people to stock up on food and water and get prepared but then not to worry about it. He used the anology of visiting a doctor and how you let the doctor worry about fixing your illness, not you. I met him in the hallway before the meeting and gave him one of the flyers I had made up with the picture of the Red PA Ribbon and cards along with the PFAW logo and wiki address. I gave each person there a copy. I spoke with him after and he said he would definitely check out our site and really liked the awareness message. Before I left , the Librarian asked me for my name and phone number. I suggested to her that we do a followup discussion with a panel which I would be on, including our town leaders.
I can definitely see how the two strands are fitting together and very auspiciously indeed!
\!
Ah, sorry, I just meant to write a very simple message: “!”. :-)
anon_22 – at 22:13
“someone passionate who couldn’t keep her mouth shut “
Wonderful. That’s who the world needs to hear from. It sounds like the sustainable motion is happening now, and getting stronger. When I get back from grandchildren I plan to start things up again in our neighborhood and with the boards I sit on.
Science Teacher, don’t be discouraged by small groups. You enlightened some people in a meaningful way, and can be sure they will pass it on to others. That’s the best way I know of passing information. You’ll see the results of your cultivation. I hope we have a whole year at least to keep getting read!
ready that is.
Lorelle at 8:26 Your thoughts on small groups and the impact of the fluwiki reminded me of one of my favorite poems/songs:
Step By Step
Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none And by union what we will can be accomplished still Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none.
From Ruthie Gorton, from the preamble to the constitution
of the United Mineworkers of America
Once again, thanks anon_22
Anon_22 - Thank you for attending that meeting, speaking up, and for starting this thread. I think you are especially on target in your last few paragraphs above. My “connection” with our local dept of health began with an inquiry call to determine of there were any upcoming seminars on pandemic preparedness. None. But…that opened the door for further discussion. Last week, I had two very lengthy discussions within which I demonstrated that I was fairly up to date on what was going on with the current H5N1 situation, which in turn seemed to open the door for them to share more “insider” information…because as you said he wasn’t worried about freaking me out. Our county is not really enthusiastic about telling the whole ugly story, but rather in feeding it to the public piecemeal. I offered to be part of their speakers bureau when they were ready to implement their public education and communication plan, and they seemed to be glad to hear that (as they recognize that when they do finally start telling the whole story, we will be at Level 4–5 and they’ll need to get the word out as quickly as possible and will need lots of informed speakers to help them do so.)
On a similar but separate note, I offered, and they took me up on it, to teach PP classes for our local Red Cross. They sent me the official powerpoint slide…vanilla was the flavor, of course. I edited it to include more up-to-date factual information, and to include the spice (i.e. current CFR, pending tests results in Indonesia, etc.) as well as the WHO map of the countries affected. I sent it back to them with my revisions holding my breath that they would approve the revised version, but anticipating that they would say no, we have to stick to the bland vanilla version. Much to my surprise, they emailed me today saying that they thought the updates and additions were good, and to run with it.
So….I guess my message is to concur with anon_22…let your local DOH, Red Cross, County Commission, Chamber of Commerce, etc. etc. know that you are available to speak, teach, explain, guide, and support any public education that they are willing to organize or endorse. Sooner or later, they will need you. My only hesitation is this: when someone in the audience asks for my “credentials” or what makes me qualified to be making this presentation, I really have no valid tag line to fall back on other than I am an avid fluwikian!
Ranchgirl — good for you! As for your credentials — simple — you are an Informed Citizen Who Reads and Thinks!
ranchgirl,
Well done! Thanks and keep us posted!
You go girl!
Every little step I take…
Anon_22,
I am fortunate in that I have access to the physicians at my hospital. I set up a presentation for them by the Public Health Department. This got them talking. I told them then… THEY were the ones that were going to have to make those tough decisions of who gets admitted to the hosp, who gets admtited the the ATS, and who goes home (homecare). They would also be responsible for deciding who gets the ventillators.
While they may have known this. I do not think anyone has put it to them in quite the black and white version.
My last question to them was: “Wouldn’t you rather set the triage criteria now in corporation with the public health dept. the hosptial ER staff, and the community leaders…. rather than wait until the last minute? Using no guidelines, and running the risk of ramifications that we cannot even imagine.”
So the stage is set….
FloridaGirl,
Thank you. I trust that you will keep those contacts open. They will need you if TSHTF.
Had an interesting conversation yesterday with our Red Cross coordinator. He met with the DOH, and they told him that they were probably going to really rely on RC to do much of the public education because they simply didn’t have the resources. So…since the RC is relying on me to teach them, looks like I may find myself teaching lots and lots of classes when the time comes. The big question was when is it the right time. They (RC) said that if I wanted to go ahead and contact groups and organizations to schedule classes I was free to do so. So I offered to put together a simply one-page flyer to promte attendence to 8 specific sessions that I will use to promote. They said they would review it, add the RC logo, and let me run with it.
My granddaddy always used to say, “You’d better watch what you wish for honey…it just might come true!” I look at this as a golden opportunity to promote PFAW and pass out lots of red ribbons!
Ranchgirl, regarding your credentials - you are a member of an non-profit international pandemic think tank - fluwikie. It was on another thread, and worded a bit better, but the idea is there. I remember the word oicologist - I told folks that was what I was at one point when I was younger. It means housewife, but sounded so good and they weren’t willing to admit they didn’t know what it was. I said an oicologist works with personnel, budget, procurment, housing, maitenance, etc… Here on fluwikie, this is the hivemind, working like a think tank. People on here know more than the average soul. If they want credintials, give it to them, and go on with teaching. You are an honored member here. Use it. Spread the word.
Resilience is the bigger arm to the smaller arm which would be stocking up in order to SIP.
So BUMP.
You guys are terrific. You are the leaders of the new awakening. Stay on message…
Its spreading.
Its gone from 50% to 80 % fatal.
Its killing our kids.
There is no vaccine.
There are not enough anti virals.
The only solution is SIP and let the wave pass over as you would on the beach.
Great work going on here. Even if One person is in the audience… that will be one person less at your door when the time comes.
Note to Florida Girl:
Your state epidemiologist, John Middaugh, was one of the attendees at the Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease meeting in D.C. last week. Seemed very interested and well-informed about pandemic flu issues.
To all: here is a link which has several terrific contact lists for officials, in every state and territory, involved in AI and PI planning. It includes names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses.
here’s another:
http://www.cste.org/members/state_and_territorial_epi.asp
and click on “state epidemiologists” in the upper R corner.
Thank you Path Forward,
In Florida, We have some very good people coordinating the local, county, and city pandemic response plans. The plans are managed by individuals, much like Fluwiki. (up to a certain level).
Responsibility to maintain those local pages remains with the local public health departments.
Regionally, there are very good people guiding the response plan(s) that will meet the needs of the community.
Like patient care… It is indivualized.
The pandemic plans are MUCH different than the bioterror, or hurricane plans, however, they insist on educating about these together. I expect they do not want anyone to lose sight of what we have already accomplished….
(kinda like higher math…. it builds on previous understanding, but has nothing to do with the present concept.)
:)
BUMP
I went in and talked to my principal today armed with infomation on the front page of our Department of Education’s website with several headlines about using schools as hospitals because they have bathrooms, kitchens for making food, and places to set up beds. They also had infomation about closing schools if need be, and lots of information about meetings superintendents and regional school planners had attended this summer. There was a FAQ link and many AF links. I made copies and passed out the stuff off the DOE web site to some of my fellow employees and it caught everyone’s attention big time because it was actually from the DOE.
This was my second trip in to talk with this great principal, but I was surprised to learn she did not know about the meetings going on or that the schools had plans. That tells me that this seems to be happening in a vacuum and the information is not getting out to the people who need to know…they seem to be getting things in place (sort of) but it is all extremely quiet.
I told her that i had closed the door of my classroom last March and told all my kids to go home and tell their parents to prep. and gave them the Govt. Pandemic Plan. and she did not fire me on the spot. I told her I figured it was alright because it was put out by the govt. to the people.
This is a beginning and I feel better for having done something to inform peole today.
I have volunteered and been trained for the Strategic National Stockpile emergency medication dispensing program through our local health dept. The person in charge of emergency preparedness is a friend of mine and I’m trying to help her recruit volunteers. This enables me to keep my ear to the ground. She has recorded public service announcements but has yet to hear one played, and has placed half-page announcements in our local newspaper with no response. I have gotten a few people to volunteer by talking directly to them. Although this plan is broader than pandemic flu, it is a start.
MJ - thanks for the words of encouragement! Heading out early tomorrow morning for an all day seminar on pandemic preparedness for businesses at the Indian River CC. They have over 120 people signed up (at $25/person). Should be a subject rich environment within which to plant lots of seeds…ask lots of pertinent questions (especially about the latest cluster in Indonesia), and gather email addresses from those in attendence. I’m excited! But now, it’s off to bed for this one. Night all.
bump
I wrote up this thread the evening before I was supposed to give a presentation on the Flu Wiki at the UPMC Center for Biosecurity. Writing it helped consolidate my viewpoint about citizen engagement, so I used that as the theme for my talk. How the internet has made it possible to harness the creativity and knowledge of a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and locales, and how individual with non-traditional credentials may have a good deal to offer if we only know how to connect with them.
I was then invited to work with them in a) Working Group on Citizen Engagement in Health Emergency Planning, and b) ‘Citizen Engagement in Emergency Planning for a Flu Pandemic’, a National Academies Disasters Roundtable Workshop in Washington, DC in October.
It was totally unexpected. I thought about it for upwards of 2 minutes and decided that these activities are absolutely what we want to support and be engaged in.
I’m not sure where all this is going to take me, but I’m taking my inspiration from Goju and everyone else, and just go and do my best.
Annon-22, I agree that engaging citizens in emergency preparedness is a good idea - from your link, this is what I was trained for:
“WHAT STILL NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED—THE TOP 10 REMAINING CHALLENGES
Improve distribution of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Development of protocols for the request, receipt, breakdown, transport, and distribution of the SNS is the responsibility of each state, and capabilities vary widely. A 2005 report from Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) revealed that only 7 states and 2 cities were recognized by the CDC as adequately prepared to distribute contents of the SNS in the event of an emergency [10]. The SNS is not much good if it can’t be accessed when needed. States and major cities must make this a priority.”
No, I have no medical training (law degree, actually), but I can certainly help with forms, screening, gatekeeping, etc. Our county has 36,000 residents and if we had to distribute medication/vaccines in 48 to 72 hours, we need a lot of volunteers. There were 27 at my training session, and I’ve recruited a few more for the next training session. We need more medical people though, and most nurses I’ve talked to would be called into the hospital in the event of a medical emergency. I understand our Governor may sign a bill allowing retired nurses to volunteer and dispense medication/vaccines. I was amazed at how well organized our county emergency preparedness person and her staff is - I think our county could be a model for the country.
Thanks for your suggestions. Has anybody had any discussions with any Congressmen/women, or Senators? They should be telling people to prepare and, IMHO, they have a responsibility to do so.
It’s only been 6 weeks since I wrote the beginning of this thread, but I’m gratified that so much has happened and so many people on this forum have gone out and started connecting with their local community and leaders.
We all know that this is only the beginning, there’s still a lot that needs to be done, probably a lot more angst along the way. But the important thing is getting started, in whatever way that is appropriate in your neighbourhood or your personal circumstances.
Armed with enough knowledge to start making a difference, ready to come back here and share and learn, many folks on this forum have the potential to be significant leaders. Remember, though, the better you get at helping build community resilience, the more likely you will be asked to do more.
If and when, because of the ‘expertise’ that you have exhibited, you suddenly find yourself being asked to help make some decision that might mean life and death to others, or that you are suddenly out of your depth, do not be afraid to say “I don’t know”. Say that, but also say, “let me see if we can find that answer from someone/somewhere else”, or “I’m not sure what the answer is, but this is what I think, and here’s why”, rather than freak out and run away from the responsibility.
As someone in the IOM meeting said the other day, it’s easy to make decisions when the evidence is clear. We don’t need leaders to do that. We need leaders who can make decisions despite uncertainties and lack of information. If a pandemic happens, we will need lots of leaders. I have a feeling that this forum is good nurturing ground for them.
BUMP