Initial H1N1 Outbreak - Assignment Example

The CDC’s warning to all health care practitioners to give appropriate facts and information to address the conundrum gave the impetus for Employee Health to instigate proper and immediate measures to address the issue. With the initial H1N1 outbreak in the spring of 2009, Employee Health (EH), with the support of the ID Chief Medical Officer and Administration, set up a Flu clinic for the purpose of protecting the employees’ health. Any employee who exhibited ILI symptoms (fever, muscle aches, cough, sore throat, cough, runny nose, and lethargy) was asked to contact EH immediately for evaluation through the nasal pharyngeal swab.

Concurrent with CDC guidelines, if the test results showed positive signs (+) for Influenza A, that employee was placed on Tamiflu and was not to return to work until the 8th calendar day after symptoms were noticed. Since then, the CDC has recommended that the employee could return to work after a 24-hour fever-free situation without taking fever-reducing medications. To monitor the progress of the incidents, EH kept a callout log to track everyone who exhibited ILI symptoms. In preparation for the Fall H1N1 outbreak, associates were separated into Tier 1 and 2.

Employees classified under Tier 1 were direct patient caregivers considered as high risk. These employees belong to the following departments: Lab, ED, Cardiopulmonary, Housekeeping (EVS), RNs at all levels, Pharmacy, ICU, Security, and Maintenance. These associates were given first priority for the H1N1 flu vaccine based on job descriptions. Tier 2 associates were nondirect caregivers and were offered the vaccine second. Tier 2 employees come from the following departments: Human Resources, Office staff at KCV, MSC building, and Administration.

A team of RNs was scheduled to administer the vaccine in shifts and specifically defined times. I.S. created an Access Data Base for all employee callouts to track trends and clusters of flu. Work teams from all groups met to establish how to address the H1N1 epidemic. The guidelines provided by the CDC on “10 Steps You Can Take: Actions for Novel H1N1 Influenza Planning and Response for Medical Offices and Outpatient Facilities” have been disseminated and discussed in group meetings to consistently abide by the required plan of action.

Further, as advised, EH signed up to receive regular updates about novel H1N1 influenza, emerging infectious diseases, and other emergency preparedness and response information.