2007 CIDER Summer Intensive Program Testimonial
I’m only referencing Day 3 of this very excellent 3-day event because that was the only day I could attend. It was the “CIDER Summer Intensive Program,” “Building Bridges: Public Health and Private Sectors Responding to Pandemic Influenza,” produced by the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness (CIDP) of the University of California, Berkeley. When I looked through the 3-inch binder that I was given upon entry it was clear that they had already covered a great deal of material (“intensive” being the operative word here) and was sorry that I had missed days 1 and 2.
Day 3 focused on public health and safety. They had some very prestigious and interesting speakers from both the public (e.g., Cal/OSHA and public health representatives) and private (e.g., Oracle and 3m) sectors. There was also a great deal of roundtable discussion. Most of the attendees were from the public health sector, with a sprinkling of private sector representation. It was fascinating to hear the various public health entities discussing pandemic preparedness.
There were some very solid “take aways” for me. For instance, it never occurred to me that during a contagion-based event you should remove the magazines and newspapers from waiting rooms to avoid passing infection from one person to another. (Duuuh.) And the “blinding flash of the obvious” that when you are giving people instruction on how to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) you also need to tell them how to safely remove said equipment without infecting themselves. That’s going into our employee guidance documentation immediately.
Kathleen Harriman shared the Minnesota State Agency Pandemic Influenza Service Continuation Guide.” And, pointed out that California doesn’t have one…that’s something that I will take back to the Governor’s Advisory Workgroup.
Kiefer Mayenkar of Oracle and Mike Lewandowski of 3M (yes, the Scotch Tape people, but they also manufacture a wide range of products including PPE) very generously shared the evolution of their pandemic planning efforts and where they are today. Deborah Gold of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health A) gave a very educational presentation regarding their view and role regarding pandemic planning and response.
I learned some new terms/acronyms including “cohorting,” (which means grouping people with the same disease together) and “TNTC” (too numerous to count, referring to a huge number of patients with the same illness). I also learned that there are additional considerations around cohorting. For instance, if you are grouping together people who have an influenza infection, you don’t want to throw someone who also has tuberculosis into the mix.
As impressive and valuable as the presentation were, the voluminous amount of information that was shared by the attendees was equally so. The bottom line is that this was one of the best organized and presented events I have attended. If they do this again next year, I would heartily recommend that you participate. You will come away with valuable information that you can take back to your own institutions or agencies and immediately apply.
- Barry Cardoza, CBCP
Updated: 08-02-07; 10:00 am; JD
