Anyone who has been watching the news the past few days knows that the world’s medical systems are responding to an outbreak of a swine flu strain, which many fear could be the start of a flu pandemic like was experienced in 1918-1919 and killed an estimated 30-50 million people worldwide. Public health officials are responding aggressively and the outbreak is not at this time a reason for panic, but for business people, now would be a good reminder to review certain emergency plans for your business. The whole point of emergency planning after all is to have a plan before you need one.
Dr. Richard Besser, the Acting Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, spoke directly to business people this afternoon in his news conference about steps they should be taking to prepare for a flu emergency in their community. Specifically, he said workers and business owners should ask themselves two questions:
- What would I do for childcare if my child’s school were closed? Would I be able to work from home? Would I be able to make other arrangements?
- What would you do if some [a large portion] of your workers couldn’t come to work?
Yes, we don’t like to think about worst-case scenarios that might cause us to need the answers to questions like that. But a little preparation can go a long way in an emergency if it ever does happen.
And just maybe having that plan in place will help you sleep a little better at night too.
About Nancy Nally
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