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Swine flu scare provides real-time preparedness training

Briefings on Outpatient Rehab: Reimbursement and Regulations, September 1, 2009

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For years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proclaimed that the potential of a pandemic is not a question of if, but when. Healthcare facilities around the United States and the world may be heeding that advice more urgently after the recent outbreaks of novel influenza A H1N1, commonly known as swine flu.

The relatively brief scare may have served as a wake-up call for many facilities and a pandemic planning practice round for others. Recently, several studies have concluded that the United States is not well prepared for a large-scale disaster, such as a pandemic, that would affect the entire nation.

A survey of all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia, released in early March by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), found that although the country is well prepared to distribute vaccines and antiviral drugs to combat a pandemic, items such as transportation plans are still inadequate. Additionally, many states are unprepared for the months of social and economic disruption a pandemic could cause, according to the survey.

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