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Middle Georgia Counties Receive Funding For Pandemic Flu Planning

The North Central Health District distributed $85,500 throughout its 13-county district to fund local pandemic influenza planning efforts. Counties included in the North Central Health District are Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington, and Wilkinson.

Each county in the district has formed a local pandemic flu planning committee made up of government officials and representatives from the local health department, businesses, healthcare community, media, and faith-based and volunteer organizations. The county committees meet regularly to discuss how the county will respond in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak and will ultimately write a response plan to be included in the county emergency operations plan.

The counties received this funding after submitting a request that explained how they planned to use the money. One common use of the funding in each of the counties is the purchase of educational material, such as brochures or flyers to distribute to residents. Another common use of the funding is the purchase of a supply of masks for first responders and other personnel that will potentially come in contact with sick people during a pandemic.

According to the funding requests received by the North Central Health District, some unique uses of the money are:

The Hancock County Pandemic Flu Planning Committee plans to create pandemic flu kits to be sent home with every school child.
The committee in Jasper County held a planning seminar for the faith-based community and plans to hold another seminar for local businesses.
The Wilkinson County Pandemic Flu Planning Committee plans to purchase educational hand washing kits for each school in the county along with hand washing pamphlets for each student.
Monroe, Peach and Baldwin Counties are planning pandemic flu tabletop exercises.
Houston County plans to build five examples of a personal disaster kit for demonstration and education with community groups.
Putnam County will purchase a disposable respirator and training kit to educate hospital workers on how to operate the type of respirator that the State of Georgia has stockpiled to use in case of a public health emergency.

“We are very pleased that over 85% of our total funding was passed on to the local planning committees. We understand the importance of localized planning; the funding that these counties have received should raise the level of preparedness in each county,” said Karen Ebey-Tessendorf, Emergency Preparedness Director for the North Central Health District.

"Planning for disaster is the first step towards surviving a disaster. Being able to take these funds and use them to bring all parties together will enhance our capabilities in the event of an outbreak," said Matthew Perry, EMA Director and pandemic flu planning chairperson for Monroe County.

A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus strain develops, infects humans and causes serious illness, and is easily spread from person to person. A pandemic flu virus can spread across the world in a relatively short period of time. Many people could be sick and businesses may have to close because of high absenteeism. Middle Georgia households should begin to think about how a possible pandemic could affect their everyday lives.

Public health officials urge the public to familiarize themselves with the preparations that should be taken for any type of emergency situation, including pandemic flu. Families should all have a supply of food, water, and general medical supplies. This will be helpful in many situations, such as a power outages, weather-related emergencies, as well as medical emergencies. In the event of pandemic flu, the best initial defense will be the practice of good health habits:

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
Cover coughs and sneezes with tissues or if you do not have a tissue, use your sleeve.
If you are sick, stay away from work and school. If you are well, stay away from those who are sick.
Keep your hands away from your face, especially your eyes, mouth and nose.

For more information on your county’s pandemic flu planning committee, call your local health department or visit the pandemic flu page on our website.