Minneapolis, MN
While watching Anderson Cooper on CNN last night talking with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the swine flu outbreak I could not help but feel like I had seen all of this before. And I had.
The current situation is playing like one of the countless number of "table top" exercises that we have been a part of. Only this time the surreal news stories - and the escalating progression of concerning information that feeds them - are real. And while so often in the table top exercises the solutions can be implemented before the "working lunch" starts, what the current situation shows us, with images of people walking the streets wearing useless face masks, is that the real world of infectious disease outbreaks is much messier and more confusing that the table top versions.
It's too early to know whether this current outbreak is "the one" we've all been thinking about and planning for. However, regardless of its ultimate impact, it drives home the fact that most people and organizations are less prepared than they should be to deal with the threat of influenza specifically, and infectious diseases in general.
We all hope that the current situation will pass without a more significant impact than what we have seen already. If it doesn't, we will react as best we can, and those who have prepared will be in a better position to thrive. If it does pass, it should serve as a wake-up call to all of us that robust planning for influenza, and other infectious disease threats, should become a high priority for all employers, schools, health care organizations, and communities.
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