Swine Flu Outbreak in the United States and Mexico - Case Study Example

Garrison is a service organization for which we serve as the ambassadors. The other day while walking down the hall a gentleman came up to me and told me that he was once helped by a guy who was wearing the same badge as of mine. He explained that when he was going to the hospital, a person who was wearing a badge in which the word “YES” was ascribed had walked him down all the way to the hospital. A discussion on the Swine Flu outbreak in the United States (US) and Mexico: Does it have the potential to cause a Pandemic. Minutes of the discussion Some of the major points put forth in the discussion were that there was no official restriction on traveling and preparations were on to meet the demand for mask and gloves which will soon be available for distribution. It was a totally new strain of virus which was affecting people in Mexico while it had not caused any reported harm to people in the US. The process of getting a hotline established from 06 30am to 16 00pm for the Infection Disease service was underway and COL Lee stated that we had to get a battle rhythm report out so that everyone will be appraised about the situation. COL Haselden added that the other population which required monitoring was those lodged in the Mologne House, the Guest lodging and Family member since the people who live there come from different places world over including Mexico. SGM raised a query that while the working hours and operations of the hotline is scheduled to follow the normal duty hours, what steps would be taken to tackle any emergency that came by after the working hours. To this query COL Lee stated that nothing has been worked out for that as of now and that the matter would definitely be attended to. A valid suggestion was given by Mr. Robinson who stated that flyers with precautions on how to prevent this Swine Flu could be printed for distribution. While Ms. Shupay clarified that the vacancy roster could only be updated for distribution when Mr. Redding resumes office, Mr. Harris suggested that employees with viral infection should rest for at least seven or eight days at home. He further enquired whether a doctor’s note, in case of three days of sick leave, is still mandated in the OPM guidelines. Answering the above question Ms. Shupay stated that there was no change in the OPM guidelines and that the employees will have to undertake a series of tests in order to determine whether they are infected with the virus just to ensure the fitness of the employee. There was a notice that the AFIP has scheduled to hold two Town Hall Meetings from 13 00 and 15 00 pm in the Russell Auditorium. Ms. Shupay will be in charge of preparing a briefer to the management about the grant money. However the grant money would be exhausted by the end of June and in case employees who wished to take short courses from four to six weeks could avail the opportunity and they could contact Ms. Phillips and Ms. Wright regarding the same. There was a discussion that the PAC was currently working on a Human Resources (HR) pilot program at Walter Reed and was to hire non- US citizens. To this there was a consensus in the meeting that non availability of qualified US citizens must first be ensured before recruitment of any non-US citizens and that all the current recruitment efforts must be exhausted. Terry Quattlebaum suggested that the Warrior transition Brigade could be employed to send word through their sync meetings to Soldiers, Family members and care givers. The issue of arranging the furniture or equipment that was used for events was discussed. The process will be monitored twice a week and if an event is held in the Rose Garden someone should be made in charge to deliver and pick up the chairs and tables. Mr. Fleri noted that the heat was being turned off properly and that he would verify the same today as well. He further added that if the heat was not turned off the Building Coordinator could be contacted to enter a work order so that the IAP can verify whether the heat is still on in your area. With regard to the issue in Building 7, it was clarified that the Baitmore cop of Engineers who visited the place yesterday had ascertained that the problem was not as major as the letter stated and that they were in the process of moving the files. To this Nino stated that he had offered the old PFATS room for lodging the files. However the engineers wanted to scan and desize the information contained in 85 filing cabinets down to 8 filing cabinets. They were waiting for the money to be sanctioned so that they can complete the process. The bi-weekly meeting is scheduled for today in the Eisenhower Suite at 14 00. COL Haselden enquired whether the place would only be used to store the files to which Nino nodded in agreement. COL Haselden told the group that they have been invited to attend the T-2 meeting which was to be held at 14 00 and they needed to attend it. The issue about the parking lot lease which was ready and expected to start on Monday was raised. COL Haselden enquired about the number of parking spots available to which Nino replied that they would get the information by Wednesday and that the first 220 parking spaces will be ready for use by Monday. The matter of parking spaces was to be discussed on the Thursday of the coming week. It was informed in the meeting that the working hours of the Personnel Security section was from 07 00 am up to16 00 pm and that the Personnel Security was transferring over to another system called the DCIPS which is similar to the NSPS system currently under use. Half the employees of the Personnel Security section have attended the three day training. Appraisal for this section will be done in May after which they would transfer over to the new system. Harris stated that the foreign intelligence service in the national capitol area was on high alert. Hence the employees were told to be sensitive and pass on information if they spotted someone unusual in their premises. Though the cyber threat remains low sources have reported that in the new joint the fighter database programs of the Pentagon have been hacked and several tera bytes of information about avionics and aircraft electronic work has been downloaded. It was decided that more information about the Swine virus will be uploaded once the hotline number is obtained. Mr. Harris took the opportunity to thank everyone on the task and lauded that they were doing very well in order to get the tasks completed. He further informed that four tasks were completed last week and that the Anti-terrorism work group meeting was scheduled for tomorrow and all the invites have been sent to those who would be attending the meeting. Mr. Beitman stated that they were following the heat problem that is happening around the installation and the grounds and fountains were being prepared for the Centennial Celebration. He invited feedback from everyone in the room about the installation work carried out by IAP as it would help the IAP workforce to perform better. COL Haselden viewed that the heat in different areas around the installation was quite common for this time of the year and agreed that the grounds and fountains were being prepared around the installation for the centennial celebrations scheduled for the coming week. The honoring of the Old Red Cross Building 41 was spoken about and there was also a mention about large number of people who had participated in the run on that day. The Sergeant Major of the Army had done the honors by leading the run in the morning. There was a mention about the Symposium in the Voder Brugger Auditorium, which was scheduled for the next day at 08 00 in the morning for which Mr. Fleek was in charge. The members in the meeting were invited to attend the programs and listen to the good information that was in store. The family appreciation day was scheduled for Thursday around the installation which was for the in-house employees. A notice was posted about the screening of the Slum Dog Millionaire movie at the Joel Auditorium at different hours of the day namely 06 00, 08 30, 11 00, 13 00 and 16 00 hrs. Refreshments were proposed to be served before entering the Auditorium. The Centennial Celebration was to be held on Friday, at 10:30am, and will be presided over by the Secretary of the Army; the TSG and the Commanding General will deliver the address. The Centennial ball tickets have almost been sold out and the number of tickets sold will be known after 1700 today. The ball tickets costs $60.00 across the board. The COC could be contacted the next day to check the availability of the tickets. Mr. Larchelle enquired whether $60.00 was for an individual or a couple and Chief Hayes clarified that it was $60.00 for an individual across the board. He further added that if anyone was interested in buying the Centennial Polo shirt it would cost them $25.00 and that he had 10 shirts for men and women that were ready to be sold. Chief Hayes stated that he was working on the security issues for the ball and Mr. Scott had spoken to the individual about the security. However the chief stated he was not sure from where the funds were going to be arranged for this support. To this COL Haselden added that he had already spoken to the Chief of Staff and had asked him to get the security ready for the ball. The word for today was read: “What lies before us and what lie behind us is a small matter when it comes to what lies with us”. An announcement about the Days of Remembrance Observance which was to be held the next day at 11:30 in the Joel Auditorium was made. The guest speaker would be Frank Lueberman from the United States Holousit Memorial Museum that was located in downtown DC. He was expected to share his story about himself and his family and their escape from Germany in 1938 which was less than a month after the night of the broken glass. The training for POV had begun and COL Haselden enquired about how the training was advertised, to which Ms. Stowes replied that they had sent it out by email. COL Haselden suggested that junior enlisted Soldiers should be made to attend the training if more people were expected to participate and that the Sergeant Major’s channel could be used to inform the soldiers about the training. As MSG Crump had the most number of soldiers, it was suggested that a word could be sent out through him to the soldiers. The nomination for the safety awards nomination was to be extended by one more week and those who were interested to participate was expected to enroll by Friday. Mr. Donald who is in charge of Hazard Tracking would briefly explain the information and the details about the Hazard Tracking log will be entered in to the calendar. The susco was closed in March last month and the new breaker panel was fitted along with the wiring connected all of which was under the Baltimore Corps project. When they did a susco for Building 11 numerous violations like one surge protector was plugged to another surge protector was believed to have occurred. The pole behind Building 83 was to deal with the chiller system and that would be open on the tracking log next week. SGM enquired whether CPT Cook was leaving the installation soon to which Cook replied that he was trying to stay at WRAMC and get the orders done. SGM told CPT Cook that he wished to briefly speak with him after the meeting. COL Haselden stated that a meeting was scheduled in the next couple of weeks to discuss about the pay and to ensure that the parking was being taken care of properly. SGM then enquired as to how CPT Cook was to handle the parking to which Cook replied that he was coordinating with the Medical Center Brigade and that the Soldiers would complete the paperwork at the earliest. Ms Hodges informed about the employee number at Garrison to COL Haselden. She also hinted about possible shuffling of employees within the organization if they are not on the TDA and that they will go into the over hire line 99 until they are suitable placed. An update on the 111 Stickers expected to be put on all telephones across the installation was given by the Chief. He added that about 3,000 were expected by the end of the week and one could contact the Fire Station if they required anything. Mr. Goodman stated that the Commanding General was on the FOX 5 news where he had spoken about what is done at the Walter Reed and its history and the entire interview could be read from the FOX 5 news website. A mention was made about Chris Davepoor who was there on Friday for the Purple Heart ceremony, which was printed on the front cover of the day’s metro section. SGM Moore enquired about the next A4BN meeting to which Mr. Goodman tentatively replied that it was on May 5th, and that he would confirm about the same once he knew about the time, date and location. SGM Moore told Mr. Goodman that he wished to discuss this meeting with him before the next scheduled meeting. Read More