It appears that Virginia is indeed making some progress as it is making it known that when the pandemic does hit that we (as a state) can expect NO help from the Feds and we will be on our own.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt held a summit here in VA yesterday and issued the normal warning – ‘Don’t depend on the Federal government - and again suggested residents keep a two-week supply of food and adequate medical supplies at home’ in the event of a massive outbreak.
Two (2) weeks? Maybe if he would start telling people to prep for two months he would get a little more attention.
Our new governor, Tim Kaine echoed the same “No federal resources are sufficient to handle all the problems we have,” Kaine said. “We need to make sure at the state level that the resources are available.”
One thing I did not know was that in 2002 Virginia had an outbreak of avian flu in the Shenandoah Valley that quickly spread out of control, infecting nearly 200 farms and forcing the slaughter of 5 million birds.
Now if our local city / county officials get on the band wagon maybe, just maybe, we will have an organized front to battle this coming fight.
Link to our local fish wrap for the news release: http://tinyurl.com/gm3n4
I lifted this from the newspaper article Thom quoted:
The federal government has already given Virginia $2.2 million in funding to help with preparedness and the state will receive 1 million treatment courses of Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs by 2007, Leavitt said.
The message to the public—we have until 2007!?
Our local paper had zip on the conference. The local tv did report http://tinyurl.com/f6n3l but elected to focus on the fact that it is still “only” a bird disease and we need not to panic.
Stafford VA. Has anyone noticed that the water shelves seem to have more empty spaces lately?
Lotta,
I tried to get an invite to the state summit last week, but they don’t consider Flu Wiki “legitimate media” (only Nature, Science, USATODAY do that.) I’m assuming we got the same thing the other states got. You are on your own.
Fence,
I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary in my local stores here in NoVA. But, boy, thinking about prepping, prepping, preparing to prep and regular visits to my local store have really changed the way I think about food and plan my kitchen.
The statements from our HHS head, Leavitt, really bothers me. The Los Alomos computer simulation showed that it would take 4 months for the BF to burn itself out in our country. It would take 6 months to get some vaccinations to about 90 million of us. He knows that. What ARE the people to eat after their two weeks supply of tuna runs out? This government is the most incompetent group of administrators I have ever seen (and I am over 60). If they want to public to prep, but then tell them 2 weeks, they really are giving the public a death sentence. Death by starvation. He knows that. Am I just crazy or does our President have no brains and it is reflected in his appointees? I hope it is not a new strain of stupidity flu that can go H-H in our elected officials.
dude,
So it might seem prudent to stock up more than 2 weeks, huh? Yes, these are incompetent people running things, there isn’t much argument about that around here.
The CBO macroeconomic report mentioned to Congress in Dec. each wave may last 3 to 5 months.
And of course we may have waves to end up at the 12 to 18 month period Dr.Osterholm and others have mentioned.
Don’t our elected oficials want constituents and taxpayers left after pandemic? Can’t live on lobbyists and corporations long with mass causalties and unfunctioning surviving public. Another Great Depression in the future?
(Stupidity Flu - I wish, dude!) Buying antiviral drugs for 2007 (for what small percentage of Virginia’s population?) was not best use of $2.2 million of resources. How long will the power plants and food chains and imported Rx drugs hold out? Is every household educated and prepping and brainstorming yet?
cr,
I’m in Virginia, too. The answer to all of your questions is, of course, uh, no.
About those vaccinations, Dr. Osterholm recently pointed out that it may take a year to come up with the right vaccination, and another year to manufacture 220 million doses, using all of the world’s vaccine development infrastructure. That is 220 million doses for the WORLD (6.5 billion), not just in the United States (300 million).
The idea that vaccinations are going to save us I think is overblown and overly reassuring.
Dr C,
We can’t repeat this meme often enough: if this thing happens in the next couple of years, there is no silver bullet. Period.
Take a look a the Katrina aftermath, folks. We still have thousands of unoccupied trailers sitting in Arkansas and the next hurricane season is 70 days away. Those folks who actually recieved a trailer cannot, of course, survive even a minor hurricane in one of them. The damage goes on.
Dr C – at 00:28
By the time the vaccine comes out the world population will be 220 million. 8^(
I can’t say that I see the store shelves emptied alot either - I am in Prince William. When I do see something is gone like water in one particular store, my mind goes crazy! Thinking does someone know something I don’t!! But then I look around & see I am the only one with a full cart anyhow & realize they are all still going on in their blissfully ignorant unprepard state of mind. How can we get the leaders on board when the general public is not & therefore they are not going to push our leaders??
I am from Bluefield, Va and will be heading up to the mountains if it goes officially pandemic and I can travel soon enough… But I am fully prepped to ride out 3 months shelter-in-place here in Central Florida if need be.
It might not even safe to try to get out of Central Florida when TSHTF and would probably be prudent to wait it out if their is an initial rush down here….then maybe make a late night run up there after a few days..
We have a seperate house next to my Mom’s house up there where I could comfortably quarantine after I arrived.
HerdChemist – at 11:04
Lived in Bluefield, WV 75–82. Roanoke, VA now.
Virginia’s pandemic flu plan is at:
Also Virginia’s state specific pandemic Flu website is at: http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/pandemicflu/
Historical info on the H7N2 flu epidemic in Virginia poultry in 2002 (1 human infection confirmed, no human deaths, 4.7 million chickens & turkeys killed)
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jul02/020701a.asp
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/totn/20020712.totn.02.ram (audio file)
http://www.virginiabusiness.com/magazine/yr2003/feb03/aodpoultry.shtml
FWIW, I am working in the Fairfax area and picked up a flyer on a Pandemic Flu Business Summit to be held in Fairfax on the 26th. Described as being for businesses and business owners. 0800–1230. Topics include Infrastructure Planning, Flu Overview and Maintaining Continuity of Utility Services, Food and Health Supplies and Public Schools and Child Care Centers. You are supposed to register online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa/summitreg.htm.
Small print says this reflects the nationwide efort to prepare and plan now to protect our comminity later.
Not sure if non-business types can get in but thought I would pass it along. I will be back in Utah when it tkes place…
Thanks for that 3|120. I just registered for it.
Fairfax County VA’s pandemic flu info website is at:
Is it open to just any old person? No company attached?
Not sure…I was interviewing someone and saw the brochure on the way out. They probably won’t be checking for business licenses, so you can try and register. Beats anything out where I live.
For those who are gardening Wetsel’s in Harrisonburg is a great place to get seeds that are right for our area! Here is their catalog
“How can we get the leaders on board when the general public is not & therefore they are not going to push our leaders??” I don’t think the leaders want the others pushing them thus the lack of emphasis on public education in our communities. The leader and other applies to government, business, hospitals etc. Also in Va.
Where in VA (Ghost RN)?
Any other VA (especially No VA or Prince William) lurkers or preppers around?
Stafford here
Falls Church City here.
Hello Virginians! Glad to see I am not the only one! Sometimes I worry as I am shopping and I am the only one paying attention and prepping around here (I am always the only one with a full cart). Is it the northern va lifestyle that people are too busy??
I’m in Reston
new kent,va and seven pines,va.thanks to you all!
Powhatan, VA here.
Quick question: Don’t really even know why I thought of this but here it goes- If the SHTF, would DC be a good place to be close to or a place to migrate away from? My first thoughts are that a lot of resources would be poured into the area and there are a lot of support units (military) in the area and so things will be more or less safe. Anyone else care to speculate?
Good question - not sure about the answer. There are just so many people here it is hard to tell. I’m never a good judge of that kind of stuff.
The best place to be I believe is where you are most familiar with your surroundings and with those who live there.
amak - Prince William checking in. When TSHTF I plan on departing this area and will SIP in a new place I’m building down in Spotsy, Lake Anna area. It will put another 50 plus miles between my family and what’s up here. I just made a visit today and it looks like 4 or 5 more weeks before I will be able to move in – sure hope this holds off that long but if push came to shove I could move now in just to get out of this area.
I think you are right with the assumption that there will be a lot of resources in this area BUT there are just too many people to take care of, even with all the government and military installations.
I am most concerned about the non-preppers local and from DC itself – these folks will migrate south and west looking for whatever they can beg, borrow, or steal. If you are from this area I think you know what I mean.
On last thing - I think you will find that there are really not that many troops still around, and the ones that are will be used to guard TPTB, their own bases, etc. And our under paid and over worked police, many of whom I think are the finest you could find anywhere, will be out numbered and in most cases out gunned.
For me – there are just too many people and they all will be too hot, too cold, too hungry, too thirsty, too scarred to care about anything but taking care of them selves.
Thom - I do agree about the non preppers. I think we have both extremes in PWC and alot of those unprepared will just be because they were too busy to be bothered, not that they didn’t have the resources to plan. Unfortunately, we don’t have any place to escape to so we will just hunker down here in our home. That too is a fine line - the typical housing development - how do you prep your home in the middle of development? Bars or boarding things up - may as well have a neon sign on the roof that says “PREPS HERE!”
amak - “how do you prep your home in the middle of development? Bars or boarding things up - may as well have a neon sign on the roof that says “PREPS HERE!”
That is one of my big issues also as I also am currently in the typical housing development so I can understand the concern. To be truthful, the place I am constructing started out three years ago as my future ‘retirement’ home, which was a couple of years before I had even heard of the bird flu so I guess that gives me an unfair advantage over quite a lot of people. I have made some modifications to it’s construction since I found this site like additional security lights, alarm system, remote monitoring of the drive, 8.5Kw backup propane generator, secure room(s), additional storage, etc.
The topic of SIP in housing developments, apartments, etc. has been discussed in many diferent threads by many different folks who have all put forth some really great ideas. Thankfully, 99 percent of the people who support FLU WIKI are among the smartest and brightest around so if you do a search I am quite sure you will find some really valuable information.
Caroline County here - just south of Fredericksburg. This has up to now been a very poor and rural county, but now we are seeing lots more subdivisions and an influx of road warriors who work in NoVa or DC.
What Captain1 – at 08:20 said is also happening in West VA and the Shenandoah Valley and even up into Gettysburg PA!
The ‘extreme commuters’ (people who drive 1.5+ hours EACH WAY, every day, 5 days a week) are going to have a rough time of it if they can’t work from home during a pandemic. That is not a ‘sustainable’ lifestyle in a crisis.
I’m in Culpeper County. There is nothing that would make me feel safe living in DC or the surrounding counties. I still remember quite vividly watching the city burn from my office on Independence Avenue after the Watts riots in ‘68. Things haven’t changed much at all, except that now even the bedroom communities in Fairfax and Loudoun have been infiltrated by gangs. We have several groups here in Culpeper, too, and a substantial illegal population and other low income groups, but most of the area is still farming country.
My husband commutes THREE HOURS each way to work in Arlington for the government. According to the Booz-Allen simulation (released a few weeks ago and linked on Fluwiki), the internet will fail in only a few days, so telecommuting is out. We’ve decided that as soon as it seems smart, he will activate his leave and just stay home. Since his employer is a contractor, that probably means that soon after, he will lose his job because the company won’t be able to pay employees who aren’t bringing in billable hours.
Special NOTE for folks in Northern Va. who might be within driving distance: the Rappahannock-Rapidan Public Health Dept. is hosting a Bird Flu Summit at Culpeper Hospital on June 21, 9–4 pm. Contact Doris Clatterbuck, Culpeper Human Services, (540) 727–0372 ext 360, for info on how to sign up. Admission is free, but space is limited. Lunch will be provided.
Bumped for visibility.
bump
bump
Did anybody go to the Fairfax County Pan Flu Business Summit on May 26th? If so, what did you learn? Thanks!
bump
I was too busy at work to go. Anybody?
Sorry - Work got in the way with me also, I have not found anything online about it yet, maybe after the holiday weekend they will post something.
This was in the Freelance Star (Fredricksburg/Stafford) this morning. Front page.
Stern, the director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, told doctors and nurses at Mary Washington Hospital yesterday that a severe and widespread flu outbreak is likely, though the timing is unknown.His message: “How are we going to handle the demand for health support? We have some work to do.” <snip> Stern estimated that a “moderate” pandemic of the type that hit in 1958 would result in 78,000 illnesses in the Fredericksburg area. Over a three-month period, 700 people would need hospitalization, 100 would need intensive care and 50 would need the support of a ventilator.
“How many ventilators do we have in this hospital?” Stern asked the doctors.
When no one answered, he said, “Anybody know? Any pulmonary folks here? Anybody take a guess?”
Still there was silence.
“How can we plan for this if we don’t even know how many ventilators we have on board?” he asked. “We need to know this.”
<stop> It’s good to know that some in influential positions, locally, are concerned. Chad
Bump - see info above re Rappahannock-Rapidan BF Summit in Culpeper, Va. on June 21.
Bump
Bump (no one went to the Fairfax County business pan flu meeting???)
Certainly would have, but didn’t even hear about it until now. In fact, it was only by accident that I found out about the Culpeper one - despite the fact that I attended a PHD seminar at Fauquier AS A JOURNALIST - AND wrote several articles and letters to local newspapers. You’d think TPTB might have heard about me by now….(sigh. guess I won’t be signing any autographs any time soon.)
Keep writing!!!! :-)
bump
Bumped again SOMEONE must have gone to the Fairfax County meeting
bump
bump
Wow - NO ONE????
Sadly, couldn’t make it.
Business Summit a Success; Hundreds Gather
to Participate in Pandemic Flu Planning Discussions
Over 200 business leaders and owners attended today’s Pandemic Flu Business Summit sponsored by the Fairfax County Government. Attendees heard speakers and panelists discussing a variety of issues relevant to business planning in case of a pandemic flu.
“Today’s pandemic flu business summit was an important step in the emergency planning process for Fairfax County businesses,” said Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. “To have this many of our corporate leaders participate in today’s dialogue on pandemic flu planning will pay dividends as the county’s businesses continue their planning efforts. I’m pleased that the county could play such a vital role in bringing the business community together to lay the groundwork for such planning.”
The Fairfax County Pandemic Flu Business Summit follows the county’s Pandemic Flu Town Meeting held in April. Both events were firsts for the county, and they build upon Fairfax County’s planning process.
The business summit was aired live on Fairfax County’s cable television Channel 16, and will be replayed on Saturday, June 3, from 8 to 11 p.m.; Wednesday, June 7, from 8 to 11 p.m.; and on Sunday, June 11, from 8 to 11 p.m.
The county’s pandemic flu planning began in fall 2005, and involves numerous county agencies, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, the towns of Herndon and Vienna, as well as private sector groups and partner organizations. County planning initiatives are being undertaken in accordance with the emergency plans of the Virginia Department of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. In addition, county officials are involved with the National Capital Region’s efforts being led by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Information about pandemic flu and additional resources are available on the Fairfax County Pandemic Flu Web page at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/pandemicflu, the Fairfax County Health Department Web page at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd, the Virginia Department of Health Web site at www.vdh.state.va.us, the CDC Pandemic Flu Web page at www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic and the official U.S. government Web site for information on pandemic flu at www.pandemicflu.gov.
The business summit was aired live on Fairfax County’s cable television Channel 16, and will be replayed on Saturday, June 3, from 8 to 11 p.m.; Wednesday, June 7, from 8 to 11 p.m.; and on Sunday, June 11, from 8 to 11 p.m.
I’m impressed with Fairfax County!!! April 4, 2006 Fairfax County to Host Pandemic Flu Town Meeting
Fairfax County will host a town meeting on pandemic flu on Tuesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. in the Board Auditorium of the Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. All are invited to attend.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly will provide a welcome to the program and lead a panel of experts who will give brief presentations and respond to questions from residents during a question-and-answer period.
Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, Fairfax County health director, will provide an introduction and overview of pandemic flu, while Dr. Julia Murphy, veterinary epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, will address birds and avian flu. Doug Bass, coordinator of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, will discuss critical infrastructure issues that may be affected during a pandemic. Deputy County Executives Verdia Haywood and Rob Stalzer, co-chairs of the county’s pandemic flu executive team, will serve on the question-and-answer panel and address the county’s response to and planning for pandemic flu.
Questions will be accepted from those in attendance, as well as by phone at 703–818–1445, TTY 711, or sent via e-mail to wwwcpd@fairfaxcounty.gov.
For those unable to attend, the program will be broadcast live on cable Channel 16 and will be available on video on demand after the program airs on April 18. The Pandemic Flu Town Meeting also will be rebroadcast at 8 p.m. on both Saturday, April 22, and Wednesday, April 26.
Information about pandemic flu and additional resources are available on the Fairfax County Pandemic Flu Web page at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/pandemicflu, the Fairfax County Health Department Web page at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd, the Virginia Department of Health Web site at www.vdh.state.va.us/, the CDC Pandemic Flu Web page at www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic and the official U.S. government Web site for information on pandemic flu, www.pandemicflu.gov.
For more information about Fairfax County’s pandemic flu planning initiative, contact the Fairfax County Health Department at 703–246–2411, TTY 703–591–6435.
May 17, 2006 Speakers Announced for Fairfax County Pandemic Flu Business Summit
Speakers and presenters have been announced for Fairfax County’s Pandemic Flu Business Summit on Friday, May 26, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Leaders from a variety of industries will give presentations and serve on panels as Fairfax County businesses come together to address planning needs in preparation for a possible pandemic.
Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, will welcome those in attendance and offer opening remarks. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, M.D., M.P.H., director of health for Fairfax County, will provide a pandemic flu overview, and C. Douglas Bass, coordinator of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, will speak on critical infrastructure planning.
Following the opening presentations, three concurrent panel sessions will be held. Panels and presenters include:
“Maintaining Continuity of Utility Service”
“Maintaining Health and Food Supplies”
“Maintaining Operations of Public Schools and Child Care Centers”
Following the informational sessions, the summit will conclude with presentations on legal issues and communications. Cheryl Falvey with Akin, Gump, Krauss, Hauer, Feld LLP will present on legal issues, and Tim Sargeant with Washington Gas will discuss communication issues business owners need to consider.
To register for the business summit, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa/summitreg.htm. For more information on the Fairfax County Pandemic Flu Business Summit, contact the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs at 703–324–3187, TTY 711.
Information about pandemic flu and Fairfax County’s planning process is available at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/pandemicflu.
OK, I’ll stop now!!!!
I am from Tennesse but I contacted TVA to get info on pandemic planning and thought y’all might be interested. TVA services Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. For a map, please see their website at http://www.tva.com/sites/sites_ie2.htm.
I looked up TVA and learned the following from their web site:
They get 30% of their power from nuclear power plants they own. They have some hydro power plants. Most of their electricity comes from 11 coal burning plants. One plant uses burns about 14,000 tons of coal a day, an amount that would fill 140 railroad cars.
There is an article on the TVA site that refers to a problem in “purchased power costs.” While this is not explained, it appears to me that TVA is purchasing power from other power companies. Remember, power generated can not be stored for long and must be used almost immediately. My worry is this may be from the fragile grid system we have spoken about in other threads.
I contacted TVA by e-mail and asked I live in Memphis and my local utility informs me they get all their power from TVA. 1. How many days supply of coal does TVA keep at it’s power plants in case of an interuption in coal supplies/delivery due to a pandemic? 2.What percentage of employees must work in order for a plant to keep functioning in case of a pandemic? 3.Does TVA have a pandemic plan? 4.When TVA refers to “purchased power costs” does tht mean form time to time TVA purchases power from other places/plants? If so, where does the purchased power come from usually and how frequently on average does TVA purchase power?
I got this response:
TVA is committed to ensuring the safety of the public and our employees and to providing a safe and reliable supply of electric power. TVA maintains a Continuity of Operations Plan to address various emergencies. In addition, like many other government agencies and private companies, TVA has established a team that is updating our emergency operations plan to address the possibility of a flu epidemic. The team is developing an agency-wide plan to enable TVA to continue to operate during and after a possible pandemic. This includes identifying critical functions, employees, and suppliers necessary to maintain business operations.
The TVA region covers an 80,000-square-mile area that includes Tennessee and parts of six adjoining states — Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. For a map, please see our website at http://www.tva.com/sites/sites_ie2.htm
In response to your question about purchased power costs, TVA does buy some electrical power from other power suppliers. That’s because buying power is sometimes more economical than generating electricity, and sometimes additional power is needed to meet customers’ high demands for power. The power we would buy usually comes from areas within or adjacent to the TVA region. The cost of the power varies greatly with market conditions — supply and demand. Prices are influenced by several factors, including the cost of fuel, such as natural gas, the time of year, and even the time of day. For example, a very hot summer afternoon would increase the need for electricity to power air-conditioning and meet other needs, thus driving up the price for potential buyers. TVA purchased about 9 percent of our power needs in Fiscal Year 2005.
We hope you find this information helpful. If you would like more information on TVA, we invite you to visit our Web site at www.tva.com. Thank you.
Bump. Anyone out their wanting to discuss issues/potential issues of our area????
In Blacksburg.
There is a small - very small - subculture of preppers here, which does not include the local authorities. You’d think in a college town, full of engineers, that there would be more concern. I have found very few, not even my own relatives, who are prepping. I’m prepping for my daughter, even though she thinks it’s silly.
I actually feel fairly safe here, as we are in a mountainous region, off the beaten track. This has not stopped me from buying a gun and stocking ammunition. The biggest problem I’ve had is finding Rx’s for long term need. The local docs that I’ve been to are skeptical at best, derisive at worst. So it’s become a matter of outwitting the system wherever possible.
Would love to hear of anyone’s experiences.
I am in Lynchburg have not spoken to anyone in town who is prepping. Have no idea what is being planned or not planned in town. I get the usual eye rolls when I bring it up. Most folks I know say they are so busy/frightened to think about it. Lately I too have been too busy to read the fluwiki and I find myself slipping into that state of mind…bird flu? What bird flu? Oh, yeah…..
I am in Lynchburg and have a 3 month supply. You are not alone.
Tomorrow is the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional BF Summit. Im attending as a reporter and participant. I’ll let you know if anything positive or forward-thinking happens. I personally am not holding my breath.
I’m in the Williamsburg/James City area. Got about 9 months so far. There has not been much locally so I thought I would stir up the pot a little. We have a local paper (Va. Gazette) with a back page section called the “Last Word”. You can comment on things of interest or things that are happening around town anonymously. Put a blerb in there about bird flu and community preps. trying to judge reaction from others and have had no responses. (They do like to rag on neighbors who don’t mow their lawns though.) Checked the local gov. website and could find nothing specific on bird flu in the emergency plan. E mailed our Board of Supervisor rep and got one back surprisingly enough. He said he would review the plans and see if there was any changes or additions needed to accomodate a pandemic. He said they would also put a link on the website that would direct residents to the state emergency plan. (Have not seen that yet) The e mail also motivated the James City Fire Chief to call me. Nice guy but they are going to fold any pandemic plan in with preps already in place for Hurricanes. Not sure that will give them enough of a pre plan though. He sounds informed but I still think since we have a history with Hurricanes, they are putting most of the effort into that sort of prep. We will see.
I found this to be an interesting site.
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/PandemicFlu/word/0405PanFl_%20Advisory_Committee.doc
• CDC recommendation is to prepare for 1.5 years
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/PandemicFlu/AdvisoryCommittee.asp
I am very impressed regarding the action Virginia has taken. Check out this link to their Health Departments.
I don’t know Birdie Kate—I did not see that much at the 2nd Va website you noted—they seem to just link to the government site…maybe I missed it:o) I thought it was interesting that the notes from the Pandemic Flu Advisory Committee did note the CDC recommendation to prep for 1 1/2 years yet I could not find that listed on the CDC—again maybe I am missing something. Who is the Pandemic Flu Advisorty Committee—is that associated with the Health Dept?
I can’t say I’m overly impressed with the Health Dept here in Roanoke. Spoke to them on the phone about getting the pneumonia vaccine in the event of bird flu and they were very dismissive, saying that if that was the reason for wanting the shot not to bother “since it isn’t here and hasn’t even gone h2h yet.” I quickly countered with some news stories and quotes out of Indonesia indicating the high liklihood that there has been h2h, however that did nothing to change the attitude of the person on the phone.
Also, VA is supposed to have a monthly update of what each major city and/or county has done in since the last published update regards to bird flu planning. Haven’t seen one since late April [can’t find them] and this area had the least amount of input on the updates I did read. “Meetings without substance” is how I would describe their actions to date.
Well, folks, Im back from the Rappahannock-Rapidan BF Summit. Saw a few old friends there, had a pleasant day. Of special note: they sent out 1800 targeted invitations and only 200 people (mostly low level employees or ordinary but interested citizens) showed up. Most of these, including myself, did not receive invitations but heard about it from the paper, etc. It did get newspaper coverage. I sent emails to all the local editors so I know they knew about it, but they might have been invited anyway.
Not too sure that I got much out of the official public health part. I went to another public health BF seminar in April and heard the basic deal there (same excellent speaker), but I noticed that the PH part of the summit had been toned down a bit - didnt seem as hard-hitting, and I know they changed the stats from “worst case” estimate numbers in April to 1957/68 numbers. I got the impression that someone jumped on the speaker about panicking the population. I was disappointed and it definitely gave too many people the impression that this wasnt a really serious deal. I also heard the speaker (director of the PH region) had been promoted and was leaving shortly. I really hope that she wasnt just kicked upstairs to get her out of her bosses’ hair. She really knows her stuff.
They broke us out into work sessions (faith-based/community groups, local industry, health care, emergency and police services, etc.) aimed at answering a prescribed set of questions. I dont know why they picked those questions (yeah, they were good questions, but not the only goodd questions that could have been explored) and there wasnt any kind of summary report at the end so you could hear what the other groups came up with. I have no idea what they plan to do with the info they collected.
My group, local industry, was a waste of time. Only a very few people there were at the level of their company that they could influence policy and only a very very few understood the concepts of “worst case scenario” or “prior planning.” The moderator was one of those chirpy public affairs types who, unfortunately, knew almost nothing about BF or its history. But, the reason I went was to see what was going on locally and I certainly found out.
One good thing was that they convened a panel of government leaders from the five counties in the region. I got to meet and talk to my County Manager whom I’d never seen or heard before. I also found out that my state representative works at the co-op so I will hunt him down like a dog. Lots of talk about table top exercises, inter-group discussions, some equipment purchases for communications, etc., but overall a serious shortage of money (we are a rural area) and much of the services - EMS, fire, etc. - are provided by volunteers.
I got the distinct impression that they did understand the seriousness and the timeliness of BF (the virus will not care if we are not ready), but there was a lot of tap-dancing around some of the most specific questions from the audience, like what are you going to do with all the excess bodies (refrigerator trucks and temporary shallow graves for hundreds, if not thousands of people????) and they clearly said that they had not actually tested any of the plans they were working on. Lots of talk and serious intention, not much action. And not much money to make anything happen anyway.
They hadn’t given any thought to including private industry in on their planning or execution (I suggested that Kinko’s could at least be asked to run off copies of info letters…that seemed like a light-bulb moment.) And other than the medical reserve corps (or corpse as several members referred to it), they didnt seem to be involved at all with community or volunteer groups. Maybe they dont expect them to be viable once the pandemic breaks out. I know I’M staying home with the kids and the dogs.
(BTW: two of the counties in our region dont have hospitals and I dont think any of the funeral homes have cremation facilities. Fauquier Hospital, a regional hospital in Warrenton, has only 20 ER beds after considerable renovation and improvements over the past few years. Surge capacity is pretty much zero and no one I’ve talked to thinks many of the HCW are going to show up anyway.)
Same for the health dept. They were just getting the first trickle of funding and because of our low population, we were told, we werent high up on the state’s priority list for more money. “Not enough bang for the buck,” said one county administrator - who happens to also be on the board of our regional hospital.
However, for the first time, they did start making serious noises about SIP. A speaker from the Red Cross was there and talked at great length about general disaster preparedness. (One of my friends was in her working group and said she gave a blow by blow discussion of how screwed up the RC is - lots of turfs wars going on.) And unfortunately, she only publicly suggested prepping for 3 weeks while privately admitting that that was definitely not enough.
Anyway, it was free, I got a couple of good info videos Im going to send to the kids, and a nice breakfast and lunch were provided, so the day was OK. If they have another BF briefing or whatever, I’ll be there with bells on if only to keep my finger on the pulse of the community.
But it was pretty much what I expected - and I will continue to prep and encourage others to do so.
bump
bump
Stafford here. The paper this weekend had a story about the need for a hospital here. Also looking at expanding number of beds in the Fredericksburg hospitals.
I can’t believe that there is so little going on in this state. Plz report what you know. Thanks.
I never hear much. I need to start digging more. BTW, I am in Prince William. I think Thom was the only other one saying he was from my area. Anyone else?? Would love to discuss issues of this area. I see all these active “preppers from xxx” threads & there’s not alot on Virginia’s threads? Are there really that many people not prepping or concerned here???
Hey, Stafford county here. A tiny bit of prepping here. Just trying to keep my pantry overloaded more than anything. I posted something on the news thread yesterday about one of the local pandemic briefings that was held in Rappahanak (SP??) county. 1800 key members of the community were invited, 200 showed. In some areas we are doing well in VA, in others….not so much.
We’re in Henry Co., city of Martinsville. Daughter talked to local Health Department a month or more ago, at which time they said they were in beginning planning stages and would contact her. She hasn’t heard a word from them. If what I see happening in Martinsville is typical of the rest of the state, we’re back to Dr. Osterholm’s famous two word statement.
PW health department website didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know - though I was happy to at least see it on there. Talking to my PCP, she says the health dept in PWC is on top of this and working and having meetings on it. Wish some of it would start being more loudly spoken to residents.
Onthefence - did you go to the bird flu summit (Rappahannock-Rapidan Region, meeting held in Culpeper, VA.) If so, what did you think about it?
The Culpeper Citizen published a 1000 word letter to the editor I sent in re the Summit. They published almost all of what I wrote, but cut the part about websites to go to and how people should be spreading the word to start prepping. The other papers I sent the article to cut it down to almost nothing, so the Citizen still did good.
I talked to the editor about the BF situation and he said that they want to put together a whole section on the pandemic, but they havent been able to find that anything has been done. A lot of talking, etc., but no real action. I’m not surprised.
Sorry SaddleT. I did not attend. I heard about it before hand but didn’t get an invite. Sounds like they had plenty of room. I find that everyone I mention BF to rolls their eyes or down plays the entire thing.
I talked to my local Giant manager, and you might want to do that. Giant is the largest grocery chain in this area. They don’t have a clue.
Just found out this AM that the Madison County Eagle also published my article and another shorter one from a friend. We worked together on the writing so that we covered two different aspects of the Summit. But still, no info on preparation. What a bummer.
We don’t have a Giant in the Culpeper area. I’ve talked to the Farmers Coop, Wachovia Bank, the Northern Piedmont Credit Union and Food Lion. Management is pretty much blowing me off, but an occasional employee is getting the message from my handouts. There were a couple of folks at the Summit from Wal-Mart. I had lunch with them and gave them some tips to carry back to their bosses. The only result I’ve seen in any of the grocery stores is that the prices have gone up on basic supplies.
Well, from the number of names in this and the other DC/NOVA thread, maybe there are only a handful of us prepping & taking it seriously. big sigh… what can you do?
Dullas Airport Area
Dulles
Hey Dulles airport area! Not too far from me.
I’m about two miles off of 95 on 234, just north of Quantico.
The preparedness news coming from the Virginia State Health Department is weak.
“Wash your hands.” “Stay 3 three back from someone who appears ill.”
The LDS Church had an Emergency Preparedness Seminar in Fairfax back in March. Great source of information. Not specifically geared to pandemic flu but offered all the right information for food storage, such as what to store, identifying places in your home to store your supplies, tracking your inventory, how to cook with your supplies, emergency communication equipment, evacuation plans, shelter-in-place. The County newsletter advertised this seminar to its employees, but no one at the Health Dept seems to have any recall about the event.
Closed due to length. Conversation is continued here.