Strategic Plan On Managing H1N1
September 2009 Â emspromag.com 13 tion are: threat awareness, protection and prevention, surveillance and detec tion, and response and recovery. The strategic plan was developed to define critical capabilities and suggest actions to achieve them. It is intended to guide emergency departments, hospi tals, and local, state and federal govern ment as they perform operational and tactical planning for the fall flu season. While H1N1's virulence is not pre dictable, it is expected to be highly con tagious and will place added strains on the emergency care system, said Dr. Jouriles. Emergency medical and hos pital planning for an H1N1 pandemic will be successful only if there is coop eration between first responders and public health officials. ACEP will work with relevant groups and the federal government to dispense information to its members on how best to handle a potentially dangerous and unpre dictable flu season. ACEP is a national medical specialty society representing emergency medi cine with more than 27,000 members. ACEP is committed to advancing emer gency care through continuing educa tion, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emer gency physicians employed by military branches and other government agen cies. EMS The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is making public a National Strategic Plan for Emergency Department Management of Outbreaks of Novel H1N1 Influenza. This will help the nation's emergency departments and first responders plan for and manage the surge in H1N1 flu cases that may arrive as early as September. Emergency physicians and first responders are on the front lines of any public health disaster, which is why we have taken the lead on devel oping a plan for how to prepare for and respond to a pandemic, said Nicholas Jouriles, president of ACEP. When H1N1 first hit the United States this spring, we saw big surges in patients, many of whom had been sent to us by their primary care physicians. We know the ER is the place people turn to in a medical crisis, and we are dedicated to being prepared for the worst case scenarios, even as we hope they will not occur. The National Strategic Plan for Emergency Department Management and Outbreaks of Novel H1N1 Influenza was produced under contract to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Emergency Care Coordination Center (ECCC). This document is the product of a collaboration between ASPR, ECCC and ACEP. The key compo nents of the strategy for managing the threat of widespread influenza infec Emergency Physicians Issue Detailed Strategic Plan On Managing H1N1 In Emergency Departments EMS_0909_p06-13:Layout 1 9/4/09 3:22 PM Page 13