Agenda - 06-16-2009 - Info Item 2

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OCHD Response Activities (A Sample • Daily health alerts to medical providers for a week; then as new guidance emerged • Daily conference calls with community partners through May 11 • Daily conference calls with the State of North Carolina through May 15 • Collected daily attendance data from both school systems • Collected daily pharmacy reports on current stocks of antivirals • Called and interviewed all suspected cases and their close contacts • Community education and prevention messages distributed through churches, daycares, schools, and county website; Spanish available • Protocols developed for the receipt and distribution of the assets sent through the Strategic National Stockpile • Arranged weekend transport for laboratory cultures to the state public health laboratory • Trained nurses to collect swab samples • Conducted respiratory fit testing with Emergency Services for community partners, health department, and ES staff • Received 25% of the Orange County allocation of the Strategic National Stockpile • Distributed antivirals to health care agencies requesting supplies to treat uninsured that were ill with suspected H1 N1 • Health director met via teleconference with representatives from all of the UNC campuses • Core group of health department staff were trained on Web EOC • Refreshed the public call-in information only line (no messages) Time and Costs CHD Staff members reported a total of 332.5 hours in April and 569.75 hours in May for this response. Operational costs were also estimated for a total staff and operational cost of $54,543 for April and May. These costs were not in addition to current budgets; however activities normally done by these staff members were cancelled or curtailed, including school-based Tdap vaccinations, rescheduled clinical appointments, cancelled meetings for on-going projects, and cancelled community presentations. For the most part, exempt staff worked very long hours and into the weekends to continue to do what was required. Volunteers from the Orange County Reserve Corps assisted in distributing community education materials. These figures do not include time or costs borne by Emergency Services or the Sheriffs Department. The Future OCHD plans to continue prevention messaging throughout the summer and into next year's typical flu season. Orders have already been placed for seasonal influenza vaccine and as usual we will vaccinate high risk individuals before making vaccine available to the general public. It is unknown at this time whether there will be a suitable vaccine available for the H1 N1 swine influenza. The CDC and researchers are alert for any indications that the virus may shift or change to an alternate form.