Avian Flu---Time's A-Tickin'...Part 8

I've written here a lot about flu---the Avian kind, that is---I just have not given much thought about what if I came down with a flu bug myself. True enough, I did. The variety I came down with, though, was the stomach flu. Got me flat on my back, just too sick to do any sort of blogging.

There was an unexpected but pleasant upside to it. I rediscovered some photos I've taken in the past and thought they might just be useful to visually express what a bad dream it is like to be sick. Might just work as a segue to our 8th installment on the Avian flu.

Click on the cat's picture to play video. From YouTube:

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This is our 8th posting in a series to help share information about Avian flu. The next few weeks will provide an overview of how a hospital might plan for Patient Surge. All information provided is only draft information and may vary depending on the particular situation an individual hospital might find itself in.

Surge Planning

A hospital may put together several groups to work on a strategy to enable itself to care for a rapid influx of patients with an infectious respiratory condition. This Surge Plan should address the individual employee’s role in continuing to provide care to the community.

ALL hospital employees have an essential role in the plan implementation.

DEFINITION: Patient Surge is when the patient census at the hospital has increased to levels that staff and resources have been maximized or when a local condition occurs in which it is anticipated that patient admissions will exceed the usual staff and supply resources.

The plan identifies actions dependent on the number of patients and the impact they will have on resources. There could be three levels identified that will initiate specific action.

Level I: Admission of a suspect index case. Warning stage for potential surge.

Level II: Health department notification of the presence of a pandemic/epidemic infectious respiratory outbreak in the community or multiple index case admissions.

Level III: Patient volume exceeds staffing and patient care supplies availability.

Next Week:
Level 1 Patient Surge overview