As school year nears, health officials ready

LAKE COUNTY — Swine flu (officially known as H1N1) has made an appearance in Lake County; however, it is unclear whether the fall will bring more cases of the virus, Emily Colomeda, Health Services Director for the Lake County Public Health Department, said.

“Anything is possible and we have people at the state level monitoring the situation,” she said.

In the event of a swine flu outbreak, there are plenty of supplies available, Leah Emerson, RN and Nursing Director for St. Luke’s Community Hospital in Ronan, said.

Both the county and local hospitals have plans on how to deal with a pandemic flu.

St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson takes part in county wide emergency preparedness exercises and has employees who have had specialized pan flu training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala., Susan Campbell-Grey, environment of care coordinator for St. Joseph Medical Center, said.

Michael Register, assistant lab manager for SJMC, attended the training and recognized the potential “pandemonium of pan flu.”

Thinking about getting supplies to rural areas, air-drops, security — those are the things to consider right now, he said.

In April, the Lake County Public Health Department had an exercise based on an epidemic flu event.

“[The] exercise was a great ‘shake-down’ cruise for us as health care providers and enabled us to practice working side-by-side with local public health officials during the peak of an epidemic,” Campbell-Grey said.

Tribal Health and the Lake County Public Health Department are working together on their emergency preparedness, Barb Plouffe, RN Community Health Division manager for Tribal Health, said.

“It’s a joint group, the Tribe and the county are working hand-in-hand with a lot of different groups, including schools, health care providers, the Red Cross and others to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic,” Plouffe said.

“There isn’t a vaccine targeting swine flu yet, but if and when there is one available we’ll make sure we have adequate supplies of it,” Colomeda said.

The risk groups for swine flu are the same as for seasonal flu: the very old and people with other health issues like heart and lung problems or compromised immune systems,” Emerson said.

Until there is a vaccination, Emerson said the most important things to do to prevent getting and spreading the virus is hand washing and staying home if you’re displaying symptoms.

Build a home emergency kit that includes supplies needed for an extended stay at home, Campbell-Grey said.

“Most H1N1 cases last season were treatable at home — there was no need to come into the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services produced a ‘Pandemic Flu Planning Checklist for Individuals and Families,’” she said.

While it isn’t certain whether or not swine flu will affect people in Lake County, it is certain seasonal flu will, Colomeda said.

In terms of seasonal flu, the best way to avoid getting it is getting vaccinated, she said.

“We run seasonal flu clinics every year in October and we encourage everyone, especially people in high risk groups like the elderly, health care providers and young children, to get a flu shot,” Colomeda said.

St. Joe’s plans to conduct their flu vaccination program beginning in November.

“We should never get lacksidasical about influenza,” Pat Poole, infection control nurse at SJMC, said.

Poole also stresses the importance of “social distancing” to protect yourself from the flu.

Emerson agreed: “People need to be vigilant and not go to work if they are sick. Especially people that work in crowded offices or kids in day care and school.”