MMS Urges Local Coordination in Pandemic Preparedness

At a hearing of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health in November, the MMS urged lawmakers to support further development of statewide pandemic preparedness and response plans that can be implemented in every community across the state.

Bruce Auerbach, M.D., chair of the Society’s Ad Hoc Committee on Physician Preparedness, urged a special focus on local planning. “When it comes to flu pandemic planning, the perspective of the local provider cannot be overestimated,” he testified. “Unlike events such as Hurricane Katrina, where unaffected portions of the country can provide response and assistance, if a flu pandemic hits, everyone will be equally involved and virtually all response will have to be local.”

The week prior to the hearing, the federal government released its National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, which puts much of the onus on the states for developing realistic plans.

At the hearing, state Department of Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote said, “This is an issue that’s bigger than any single agency.” He went on to characterize the heightened concerns about bird flu as a “call to action for society at large to begin to prepare” for a pandemic. Public health officials have been holding sessions with local leaders statewide to ensure that each community has a plan of action and to initiate the next stage of preparedness.

“We have unbelievably dedicated and committed people at the municipal, county, regional, and state levels,” Dr. Auerbach said, “but there are issues begging to be addressed related to coordination, guidance, and resource allocation.”

“All preparedness is local,” agreed Howard Koh, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the MMS Committee on Public Health, who testified on behalf of Harvard’s Center for Public Health Preparedness. Dr. Koh called for resources with which local communities, local leaders, and local health departments can develop preparedness plans and sustain public and professional education. Dr. Koh also underscored the need for resources for laboratory equipment and staff; reimbursement for hospitals, community health centers, and other organizations to make surge capacity a reality; and regular drills and exercises to test plans for coordination between the major regions of the state and country.

The MMS urged the development and testing of coordinated response systems among all levels of government, and between public and private entities. The Society’s testimony also called for mechanisms for reliable and timely communication to health care providers, emergency responders, and the public.

Calling a pandemic “in many respects the worst possible scenario for which we could prepare,” Dr. Auerbach concluded that “establishing the response systems now would [also] prepare us for other emergencies.”

For current information on the state’s influenza pandemic preparedness, visit www.mass.gov/dph/flu.

– Robyn Alie