sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
FEDERAL GUIDANCE TO ASSIST STATES IN IMPROVING STATE-LEVEL PANDEMIC INFLUENZA OPERATING PLANS
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/news/guidance031108.pdf
Effective State, local and community functioning during and following an influenza pandemic requires focused planning and practicing in advance of the pandemic to ensure that States can maintain their critical functions. The Interim Pre-pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States – Early, Targeted, Layered Use of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (February 2007) was developed to provide guidance for pandemic planning and response. For community mitigation strategies to be effective, State governments need to incorporate them into their operating plans and assist local communities, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and the public in doing the same. State governments must have robust operating plans that have been sufficiently tested and improved by staff who understand and perform proficiently their supporting activities. Community partners must also perform proficiently their roles and responsibilities and understand accurately what the State government will and won’t do and how it will communicate with both them and the public.
This document provides a strategic framework to help the 50 States, the District of Columbia (DC), and the five U.S. Territories improve and maintain their operating plans for responding to and sustaining functionality during an influenza pandemic. Hereinafter within this document, the terms “States” and “State-level” refer to all 56 governmental entities.
At the heart of the strategic framework are the supporting activities that State-level operating plans should address. Representatives of several United States Government (USG) Departments (see Annex) developed this document with input from State representatives.