Officials with Pennyrile District Health Department met with authorities in Crittenden County this morning to begin formulating plans in the event spreading worldwide epidemic reaches the county's borders."To be forewarned is to be forearmed," said Jim Christensen, CEO of Crittenden Health System.
As the top health care official in the county, Christensen said planning in each western Kentucky community is critical because it is a matter of when, not if the H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, arrives in the region. At present, no cases of the pandemic have been reported in Kentucky, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 109 confirmed cases of infection and one death in the nation, with neighboring Indiana and Ohio each reporting one case.
Dr. Rachel Yarbrough, superintendent of Crittenden County Schools, said newsletters regarding precautions families can take to avoid the flu strain as well as what the school system is doing will be distributed today for students to take home to parents. And cleanliness will be a top priority as the spread of the potentially deadly virus continues around the U.S. and world.
"Their little hands being washed is about the best thing you can do," said Jim Tolley, director of the five-county Pennyrile District Health Department.
Tolley was in Marion to discuss the necessity of planning for a pandemic with officials from the school, hospital, city and county government and the county's emergency management agency. Crittenden County is the fourth county he visited.
"Right now, there are a lot of unknowns," he said, urging calm and common sense.
Tolley encouraged authorities to begin formulating plans for a secondary care center in the event CHS becomes overwhelmed with cases from inside the county and neighboring communities. The center would provide necessary treatment for recovery from swine flu, while freeing up the hospital for addressing the most serious cases and other health care needs of the area. Sstaffing such a care unit could be difficult, some warned.
"We just wouldn't have it," Christensen said of the manpower needed to provide long-term care.
However, if the need were to arise for a secondary facility, schools would likely be dismissed, Yarbrough said, allow school staff and nurses time to help keep such a unit operable. Tolley said while health department nurses would also be able to provide care, the most serious cases would need to be taken up by the hospital.
"We're looking at possible conditions the we never see," he said. "We're not an emergency room."
Currently, symptoms of the swine flu are similar to that of seasonal influenza in the U.S. each year. It cannot be passed by eating pork, only from human-to-human and swine-to-human contact. That is why health officials so strongly recommend that increased precautions as simple as washing hands more frequently are so important.
"Plans are in place," said Marion City Administrator Mark Bryant. "There is no reason to panic, certainly."
Updates on the swine flu epidemic can be found on the CDC's Web site. The Crittenden Press will continue to monitor the situation and preparations locally. Updates will be provided as available.
