Be prepared — 06/02/09

June 01, 2009 04:49 pm

— While at this point it does not appear that swine flu will have a major impact on the health of more than a handful of Kentuckians, the University of Louisville has received a $2.3 million federal grant to help the state be better prepared for the next pandemic outbreak.
The grant from the Homeland Security Department will help research teams focus on detection, preparedness, protection, response and recovery from any massive outbreak.
While the worst fears about the swine flu have yet to be realized, Paul McKinney, associate dean of U of L’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences, said concerns about a swine flu pandemic provided a “window of opportunity” to better prepare the state for more severe disease outbreaks in the future.
“This is preparation for us, sort of a dress rehearsal if you will, for what could be a major pandemic with a lot more severe impact in the future,” said McKinney, a co-leader of the research team. The work will enhance preparations in town halls, schools, health clinics and hospitals, he said.
The goal is to lessen any future pandemic’s severity by preventing and containing infectious disease and ensuring community services continue amid an outbreak, McKinney said. Preparedness guides will be crafted for small and mid-sized communities, now often overlooked since much of the national attention has gone to metropolitan areas in preparing for pandemics.
One hopes the type of pandemic that leads to illnesses and deaths throughout the state will never occur, and the skills community’s will learn through the grant will never be needed. But the motto of the Boy Scouts of America says it best: Be prepared. Thanks to the grant, if a pandemic does strike the state, Kentucky will be better able to handle it than it is today.