| Remarks by Governor Kulongoski |
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| March 30, 2006 |
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Pandemic Flu Summit 2006
Good morning and welcome.
First, let me begin by thanking Secretary Mike Leavitt and Captain Lynn Slepski of the Homeland Security Department for coming to Oregon for the convening of this summit.
It is essential to have coordination with our federal partners during any type of disaster. The presence of these two individuals sends a strong signal that our federal partners intend to work closely with us on prevention and containment of any pandemic flu outbreak. We appreciate that and thank you, Secretary Leavitt and Captain Slepski, for your presence.
We seem to live in an increasingly worrisome world. Everyone has some fear, whether it be about terrorism or the rising prices of Portland’s housing market. Strangely, however, research shows us that Americans are not worried about influenza.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 38 percent of the people in our country are “not too worried” that a family member might be exposed to the avian flu. And 23 percent of the people in our country are not at all worried about this possibility. This suggests that the public – including everyone in Oregon – is not sufficiently prepared for the outbreak of a flu pandemic.
Pandemics have been a part of human existence since the beginning of time. In fact, there have been three pandemic flu outbreaks within the last 100 years. These widespread illnesses can take millions of lives and cause immense suffering in the communities that they hit.
But we now have the capacity to monitor outbreaks and can prepare ourselves by taking steps that will protect ourselves and our families and limit the disease’s effects.
My goal is to ensure that every Oregon citizen – every Oregon business – every non-profit organization – and every school – is ready for a pandemic outbreak.
Being prepared requires information and knowledge, and it requires constant cycles of planning, training, exercising and reviewing. It is not enough to have good plans in place, because plans do not respond, people respond.
Obviously, this is why we are all here today – to make sure that Oregon is ready for an outbreak of pandemic flu. We all have a role to play in that effort, and I appreciate all of you being here today to participate.
Let me tell you a little bit about what we’re doing at the state level to make sure we’re ready to protect the health and safety of our citizens in the event of a flu pandemic:
In your packets today is Oregon’s 2006 Pandemic Flu Plan. State officials have spent the last five months updating that plan to reflect the latest data and information available.
The Plan outlines what will happen under various pandemic flu scenarios and clearly explains the state’s role in communication, surveillance, laboratory testing, vaccine and antiviral distribution, travel advisories, community control measures and workforce support.
If you take nothing else away from today’s event, I hope you take away a better understanding the roles of federal, state and local public health agencies and first responders in protecting the public’s health and safety if and when a pandemic occurs.
That understanding is critical to being prepared – because it will help you understand what you can – and what you cannot – expect from each of those organizations in an emergency situation.
I said earlier that plans don’t respond – people do. That’s why in addition to having a plan, we’re also testing it through drills and exercises.
Last November, Oregon participated in a full-scale, statewide exercise of the Strategic National Stockpile. The exercise involved hundreds of participants – including federal agencies and private hospitals.
The exercise tested the ability of state and county officials to work together under an Incident Command System and to quickly move vaccines, medications and medical supplies out to communities, where clinics were set up to dispense vaccines to hundreds of volunteer “patients” participating in the exercise.
I personally participated in that exercise as a patient in Washington County – and I was impressed by the level of cooperation and coordination that went in to the event.
Because of that exercise, we were able to identify some areas where our Plan needed to be revised and, because of that, our Plan is stronger today than it was before the exercise. We have already scheduled a variety of exercises to lead up to a full-scale testing of the flu plan in November of this year.
Also critical to our ability to respond effectively to a disease outbreak is our ability to communicate with health professionals and first responders. All of the after-action reports about 9-11 indicate that one of the things that hampered first responders was the lack of a good communications system.
Last year, I signed into law a bill that will help Oregon create a statewide telecommunications system that will allow first responders to communicate with each other anywhere in the state.
Oregon has also developed a Secure Health Alert Network Website to expedite critical health communications to hospitals and public health partners in emergency and non-emergency situations. The site uses a secondary system, the Alert Oregon Notification System, to “push” important information out via fax, phone, pager, and email. The two sites combined have more than 1700 active users and host a virtual Joint Information Center.
One of the biggest challenges that we will face when a pandemic occurs is the issue of capacity at our local hospitals. That’s why Oregon developed a Hospital Capacity Website to track emergency room bed and medical supply capacity in each of the 60 hospitals throughout the state.
Through this tracking system, state and local officials will have real time information about resource capacity, allowing us to help manage patient and resource allocation at the local level.
Hospitals and public health partners are also hard at work to develop their own plans to address an increased demand for services during a pandemic, including the use of excess capacity in non-hospital facilities and the creation of alternate care points to receive patients.
Oregon is also in the process of developing a Volunteer Healthcare Registry to allow licensed healthcare workers to register in advance to help provide medical care during a public health emergency.
As you can see, we are working very hard at the state level to make sure that we’re prepared for an influenza pandemic – and today I want to challenge all Oregonians to take steps to develop your own plans and to test them.
Each of us has a role to play in protecting our own health and safety, as well as that of our families, our employees, and our co-workers.
Today’s preparations can and will determine tomorrow’s outcomes.
In your packets today are several checklists on basic flu preparations – for businesses, social service organizations, schools and individuals. That same information is available on Oregon’s Pandemic Flu Website, which can be reached through my homepage at www.governor.oregon.gov.
These checklists are common-sense guides to help you prepare for a pandemic flu outbreak. They provide information on how to prepare in case there is limited water, electricity and other services in the event of a disaster. And they provide specific guidance to businesses, individuals, schools and non-profit organizations.
Again, it is not in our interest to alarm anyone. The last thing we want is for Oregonians to panic. But we do want people to know what to do in case there is an outbreak of the flu. This summit is a terrific opportunity for us to exchange information, update our personal plans and make the public aware of the threats. I look forward to hearing what comes out of this meeting.
And now, I would like to turn the podium over to a former colleague of mine – a fellow western Governor – and the current US Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.
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