Yesterday, the Business Civic Leadership Center hosted a webinar to provide important information on the emerging H1N1 flu threat.  In case you missed it, you can watch a video recording of the 30 minute presentation here. 

The webinar was organized in cooperation with L-3 Communications and featured Dr. Julie Gerberding, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Dr. Gerberding was named by Time in 2005 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for her leadership in modernizing the CDC in the face of unprecedented health threats like bioterrorism and SARS.  With the new threat of H1N1, it was important to have someone with the expertise of Dr. Gerberding to address the business community. 

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Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Security and Emergency Preparedness Division released a report that provides businesses with suggestions on how to keep employees healthy and maintain business operations during the upcoming flu season.  The report outlines 10 simple actions that companies can do to become more prepared for the H1N1 threat. 

The seasonal flu typically peaks in the winter months, affects 5% to 20% of the U.S. population, and kills approximately 36,000 Americans each year.  Because of the novelty of the H1N1 strain, it is expected to peak earlier (some experts predict mid-October) and infect more people because few people have immunity to it.  It has been suggested that people born before 1957 may have some immunity to H1N1 because of a strain of H1N1 that circulated in that year. 

The new Chamber report is important in keeping businesses healthy during a time of increased flu risk.  No matter what happens this fall and winter, this report is a good reminder that all of us need to be proactive in respect to the potential disaster threats that we face.  Being reactive and complacent might be easier but it is much more dangerous. 

In the spirit of being proactive, BCLC is hosting a webinar on September 29 that is designed to give companies and local chambers of commerce a first-hand look at the H1N1 threat and offer innovative solutions for tackling the challenge.  We hope you are able to take 30 minutes on the 29th to learn more about the flu threat as well as innovative ideas to promote flu resiliency in your community.  For more information on how to join the webinar free of charge, please visit our website.

With summer quickly advancing into fall, companies and communities have plenty of reasons to make sure they are prepared.  Hurricane season has been underway for two months, but the majority of storms in the Atlantic Ocean form in August and September.  At the date of this writing, there are “no tropical cyclones,” but the dangerous months are still ahead of us. 

And to make matters worse, the H1N1 “swine flu” virus doesn’t seem to want to go away.  Hopefully this strain of virus will not behave like the virus during the Great Pandemic of 1918.  That year, the flu strain appeared in March resembling the seasonal flu, but the virus mutated in August to a more virulent strain that killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people worldwide. 

Knowing this, health officials are preparing for the possible reemergence of the flu this fall, and are fast tracking vaccine testing to help prevent the spread. 

But what can corporate citizens do now to prepare?   The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control published a checklist for businesses to prepare for a pandemic flu.  This is a good first step, but we need to be aware that pandemics are different than any other kind of catastrophic disaster and require different assistance and recovery methods. 

Because of the practice of social distancing, schools, workplaces, concert halls, places of worship, and other venues where large numbers of people normally congregate will be shut down. Viable alternatives (like online social networking) will need to be developed to keep society functioning normally. 

Assistance providers will also have to develop strong communication and coordination systems, and work with logistics and information- and communication-technology experts and public health authorities on protocols and procedures. 

These relationships should be built now.

Last year, BCLC hosted a pandemic flu workshop at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, WA.  The following is a list of items that the group said should be done to prepare for a pandemic:

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In Friday’s Financial Times, and again yesterday in Qatar’s English daily newspaper, The Peninsula, BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan was quoted while discussing preparedness efforts for the H1N1 “swine flu” virus in the United States.

From “When America Sneezes,” FT.com:

 In the US, more than 1m people have swine flu – around one American in every 300 – and 263 have died. Face masks are selling fast and bottles of hand sanitiser have appeared everywhere from check-out tills in supermarkets to the reception desk at the International Monetary Fund.

Jordan also notes that the CDC and private healthcare companies are working around the clock  to come up with various tools to help individuals, businesses, organizations, and communities to manage the impact of the H1N1 virus more effectively, and that BCLC is working with service providers to get the word out.

As you gear up for flu season this year, BCLC’s National Disaster Help Desk for Businesses (888-MY-BIZ-HELP) is standing by to provide information about available resources and tools to help your business – particularly if the recession has stretched your resources. 

The Help Desk is sponsored by the Office Depot Foundation in order to help businesses, chambers, and responders/donors access information about disasters, such as where to go for help and what kinds of donations are needed or available. Don’t hesitate to call the Help Desk for information on how to manage H1N1 in your community.

For more information on BCLC’s work with disaster management, browse recent blogs or visit our Disaster Assistance and Response program portal.