At the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Explain the differences between seasonal influenza and pandemic influenza.
• Relate the effects of a pandemic influenza to daily organizational operations and basic services.
• Describe strategies for resolving continuity challenges presented in a pandemic situation.

Influenzas occur throughout the world every year, usually during the fall and winter. Most people have some level of immunity to these “seasonal” influenzas, and vaccines are usually available.

Sometimes, particularly virulent influenzas strike. People have no immunity, and vaccines are not readily available. These influenzas reproduce and mutate rapidly. They also create a “second wave” of victims. These “pandemic” viruses raise the possibility of killing millions of people around the world.

This course introduces the characteristics of and potential implications of pandemic influenzas. It will also present suggestions for minimizing their effects.

Seasonal influenzas occur nearly every fall and winter in the United States. Seasonal influenzas are transmitted from person to person, but most people have some level of immunity to them.

As seasonal influenzas are identified, the Federal Government, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), works with the World Health Organization (WHO) and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that a vaccine is available.

Some influenzas occur naturally in birds, swine, or other animals. Usually, these viruses are confined to the host animal, but some can be transmitted to humans. Once in humans, the virus mutates into a human influenza.

Unlike seasonal influenzas, humans have no immunity to the mutated virus and vaccines may not be available. Some influenza variants are particularly virulent, passing easily among humans and causing global outbreaks. These outbreaks are called pandemics.

Pandemic-causing viruses have three characteristics in common. The virus:

• Has the ability to reproduce rapidly and spread through human-to-human contact. Infected members of the population unknowingly incubate the disease and spread it to others.
• Has the ability to mutate rapidly. The potential for a virus to undergo a natural mutation after release into the population is higher for pandemic viruses than for other influenzas.
• Causes a “second wave” of victims. The effect of a highly virulent strain of virus causes a second series of victims, often among healthcare workers and others who are working to contain it.

A global outbreak of influenza is cause for concern, especially if a strain emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population.

Such a pandemic influenza has the ability to affect approximately 30 percent of the population at any given time, disrupt 40 percent of the workforce as workers suffer from illness or stay home to take care of family members,and cause significant disruption to all sectors of economy. Medical facilities would be overwhelmed, medical supplies would be inadequate for the need over an extended period of time, and response assets would be severely burdened while at the same time having to be self-reliant.

How would your organization respond during a pandemic when resources may be severely limited?

What would you do to protect your employees’ families?

What could you do to protect citizens? How will you communicate with other organizations?

This course will help you identify key impacts that could affect your organization’s response efforts during a pandemic, and provide you with job aids and sources of information to use in planning. Preparedness is the key to mitigating the effects of a pandemic influenza and avoiding disruptions to the essential services we provide.

Planning for a pandemic is much different than planning for other types of disasters or events.

• There will be no physical damage to the infrastructure, but much of the infrastructure may not function, as the critical personnel become ill or stay away because of fear or to take care of sick family members.
• Given second—and potentially third—waves, staffing and infrastructure issues may remain for months.
• State, local, tribal, and territorial governments representatives will need to make key decisions with only partial information as the pandemic environment changes quickly.
• Resources may not be available from mutual aid and assistance agreements as outbreaks occur simultaneously throughout the area.

Other impacts from a pandemic could include:

• Vaccines and antiviral medication may be in short supply, at least initially. There may be discontent among those who are not a high priority for the scarce resources.
• Many more deaths are seen than with a seasonal flu outbreak. The number of deaths will challenge the medical examiner or coroner and overwhelm morgue capacity.
• Survivors may develop severe psychological issues as they mourn the loss of friends and family.

All government leaders, emergency services agencies, and emergency response organizations will need to plan for pandemics in a way that they do not for natural or other disasters. Among the tasks that your organization will have to consider are how to:

• Rely on its internal resources, even if they have been decimated by the flu.
• Respond to the usual range of issues and incidents in addition to flu-related calls.
• Manage the public’s expectations about which agencies can do what and in what timeframe.

Intra- and interagency cooperation in pandemic planning will prove critical as your jurisdiction establishes horizontal and vertical relationships with other agencies, the private sector, and others.

Pandemic planning team members should include those on the emergency planning team. Be sure to include:

• Hospital administrators and urgent care providers.
• Medical examiners and coroners.
• Providers of key services, such as utility providers, food service providers, and transportation services.
• Critical infrastructure owners and operators.
• Representatives of voluntary agencies.
• Representatives of collective bargaining units in response and other agencies, as required.

All Federal Executive Branch agencies are required to develop continuity programs. Organizations at all government levels, nongovernmental organizations, and others are encouraged to develop continuity plans.

The goals of continuity plans are to:

• Protect life and property.
• Continue essential functions until normal operations can be resumed.

Continuity planning follows a proven model that can be followed for pandemic planning. After you have completed the planning process, make sure to check to see if your Emergency Operations Plan needs to be updated.

Essential functions are those functions that enable an organization to:

• Provide vital services.
• Exercise civil authority.
• Maintain the safety and well-being of the general populace.
• Sustain the industrial and economic base during an emergency.

Some essential functions are defined in Federal or State laws, local ordinances, or executive directives.

Agencies and jurisdictions should work together closely to be sure they identify all essential functions. Critical interdependencies must also be identified. For example, the 911 dispatch center is interdependent with fire, police, and emergency medical services. Recognizing critical interdependencies will help to identify critical infrastructure, such as communication systems, that must remain operational.

After identifying essential functions, each organization needs to determine whether:

• Services: The functions can be accomplished with considerably fewer personnel. If not, staffing alternatives will need to be developed that will enable accomplishment of essential functions with fewer personnel or in a different way.
• Protective measures: Additional protective measures will be required (e.g., infection-control procedures for the workforce) during a pandemic. If so, give consideration to how personnel will be notified of the requirements and how the requirements for protective measures will be enforced.

Essential records are those records and databases that are required to support the performance of the organization’s essential functions. After identifying essential functions and determining how they will be accomplished, determine:

• How the records will be accessed if the workforce is dispersed.
• Whether the records will require updating and how that will occur.
• Whether version control could present a problem.
• Whether it is possible to recover lost records if personnel movement is restricted or transportation is disrupted.

Not all records that are used day to day will be vital during a pandemic. Be sure to identify those records that are needed no matter what.

It’s time to stop and check your planning process by answering the following questions.

• Have you identified and prioritized your essential services?
• Have you determined:
• How the pandemic influenza impact delivery of these essential services?
• Which of your services will be most needed and can you estimate the increased demand for them during an influenza pandemic?
• What functions and services can you suspend during an influenza pandemic?
• How will pandemic influenza affect your mutual aid and assistance agreements?

Once sustained person-to-person transmission begins, pandemic influenza will spread rapidly. The CDC’s planning assumptions for workforce impacts from a pandemic are as follows:

• The clinical disease attack rate will likely be 30 percent or higher in the overall population during the pandemic influenza.
• Rates of absenteeism will depend on the severity of the influenza pandemic. In a severe influenza pandemic, absenteeism attributable to illness, the need to care for ill family members, and fear of infection may range from 20 to 40 percent.
• Epidemics will last 6 to 8 weeks in affected communities.
• Multiple waves (periods where community outbreaks strike across the country) will likely occur with each lasting 2 to 3 months.

The next screens describe workforce planning actions.

It is critical to have a clear line of succession to offices established for organizational leaders. Designation of a successor enables the successor to act on behalf of and exercise the authorities of the principal in the event of the principal’s death or incapacity.

Orders of succession enable an orderly and predefined transition of leadership. Orders of succession that are at least “three deep” are recommended for continuity purposes. In a pandemic, it may be preferable to develop orders of succession that are five deep, with one successor designated in another geographic area.

Click on this link to access the minimum requirements for orders of succession.

Use the information below as a guide to developing effective orders of succession.

As a minimum, orders of succession must:

1. Establish an order of succession for the position of the organization’s head. There should be a designated official available to serve as acting head of the organization until that official is appointed by the Chief Elected Official or other appropriate authority, replaced by the permanently appointed official, or otherwise relieved.
• Geographical dispersion is encouraged and ensures roles and responsibilities can transfer in all contingencies.
• Where a suitable field structure exists, appropriate personnel located outside of the subject region should be considered in the order of succession.
2. Establish orders of succession for other key organizational leadership positions, including but not limited to administrators, key managers, and other essential personnel.
3. Describe orders of succession by positions or titles, rather than by the names of individuals. Coordinate the development of orders of succession with the organization’s general counsel.
4. Establish the rules and procedures designated officials must follow when facing the issues of succession to office.
5. Include in the succession procedures the conditions under which succession will take place, in accordance with applicable laws and organizational or department directives; the method of notification; and any temporal, geographic, or organizational limitations to the authorities granted by the order of succession.
6. Include orders of succession in essential records to ensure that they are available at all times.
7. Revise orders of succession, as necessary, and distribute the revisions promptly as changes occur.
8. Develop and provide a duties and responsibilities briefing to the designated successors to the position of the organization’s head, when named, and other key positions, on their responsibilities as successors and on any provisions for their relocation.

Even though a pandemic influenza strikes indiscriminately, your organization’s essential functions must continue. To ensure continued operations, your organization should delegate the authority to make policy decisions. A delegation of authority:

• Identifies who is authorized to act on behalf of the organization’s head or other officials for specified purposes.
• Ensures that designated individuals have the legal authorities to carry out delegated duties.

As a general rule, delegations of authority take effect when normal channels of direction are disrupted and terminate when the channels are re-established.

Click on this link to access the minimum requirements for delegations of authority.

It is important to identify those staff members who may be able to fill in or assist in the completion of your essential services.

Although employees may not currently be assigned to tasks related to the essential services, their previous work experience or particular skills sets may allow them to complete these functions.

For each essential service, create a list of all staff or other resources who could be cross-trained to perform the required tasks.

As part of your pre-pandemic planning, you may want to review your personnel policies including:

• Leave to support ill workers and their ill family members.
• Assistance for those without leave.
• Fitness-for-duty certification to return to work.
• Work- and nonwork-related travel to infected areas.
• Quarantine personnel after returning from infected areas.
• Sending ill employees home who pose a direct threat in the workplace.

Make sure to consult with your bargaining unit representatives if you have a labor union.

It’s time to stop and check your planning process by answering the following questions.

• Have you determined the effects of high absentee rate on your organization?
• What types of workers will be in high demand in an influenza pandemic? How will you ensure there will be enough workers to meet the demand?
• Have you considered the impact of any authorized outside employment (i.e., second jobs) during an influenza pandemic?
• Have you addressed succession planning in your pandemic plan? Consider building in random ‘deletion’ of personnel in your pandemic exercises to test the ability of your organization to function and deliver services without certain workers.
• How can the community assist in providing essential services (e.g., medical/nursing educators and students, community emergency response team [CERT] volunteers, and reserve/auxiliary or retired personnel)?
• Do you have a cross-training plan to prepare workers for nonstandard positions?
• Have you adapted existing and/or developed new (i.e., more flexible) personnel policies to address pandemic situations?

Maintaining a cadre of trained personnel may be one of the most difficult aspects of pandemic planning.

As with any emergency, organizations are responsible for managing their personnel during a pandemic. Some organizations will be able to implement strategies, such as social distancing, without difficulty. Some organizations, however, will have to place their personnel in close proximity to a potentially infected public. These organizations will have to consider a wide array of options for supporting their personnel during a pandemic.

Remember that pandemic influenza will spread from person to person through social contact. One of the biggest challenges for any organization, then, will center on protecting essential personnel.

Although there are no guarantees, some organizations will be able to protect their personnel more easily than others. Protecting first-response personnel, however, will be especially difficult.

The next screens will provide highlights of some strategies for protecting personnel during a pandemic.

Since a pandemic is focused on people, some of your normal continuity plan responses may not suffice:

• Devolution may not be an option if the impacts of the pandemic are also affecting your devolution partner.  Alternate locations may not be an option, as moving the same potentially impacted personnel to a different location will not decrease the risk to essential functions.
• You may not have staff members who have been fully trained on the essential functions.
• The pandemic may not be in your area, and you want to protect your people as much as you can.

If a vaccine exists, encourage your staff to get vaccinations. Also:

• Practice social distancing and telework. Distribute staff if you can to multiple locations as to close contact in office areas.
• Use approved products to clean surfaces, including often used surfaces like doorknobs and communal copy machines. Create a sanitation plan/schedule.
• Encourage individuals to wash hands thoroughly with hot water and soap for at least 20 seconds.
• If someone is sick, remove them from a group environment, and encourage them to seek medical care, as needed.

• Work with your human resources section to disseminate information to include policies on sick leave.
• Maintain communication with staff and interdependent agencies.
• Follow guidance released by government agencies with regard to the pandemic.
• Review upcoming meetings and group settings to see if virtual meetings, postponing, or cancelling are viable options.
• Test technological capabilities and equipment necessary to support social distancing such as laptops for telework.

One best practice is to have job aides for vital functions/roles related to essential functions:

• If the organization has done a Business Process Analysis, this information may be located within that document.
• A job aid should be a list of functions, e.g. a checklist format, along with any necessary contact information.
• These aids are meant to assist personnel in roles different than their normal continuity function. This allows for the essential functions to continue using untrained personnel.
• During a pandemic, you may not be able to rely on trained or experienced personnel. The essential function still must be accomplished.

Social distancing involves focused measures to increase social distance or restrict activities. There are three general strategies for social distancing:

• Telework.
• Shift work.
• Physically spreading personnel throughout the workplace.

Each of these strategies will be described on these next screens.

Telework is . . .

Any arrangement in which an employee regularly performs officially assigned duties at home or other worksites geographically convenient to the residence of the employee.

Employees who use computers and other information technology while teleworking need effective support during work hours; remote access presents some unique issues and agencies should ensure tech support can meet these needs. These needs must also be taken into account in planning for using a distributed workforce during an emergency situation.

Employees designated to work from home during an emergency event should telework frequently enough to ensure all systems are working smoothly.

Shift work includes any system of work other than day work. Shift work may include:

• Weekends.
• Afternoons, nights, and rotating shifts.
• Split or broken shifts.
• Extended shifts.
• Extended working hours.

While shift work may be appropriate during a pandemic, it raises other issues that should be considered.:

• Shifts must be assigned to accommodate workflow.
• Studies have shown that employees who work shifts are less efficient and more likely to have an accident on the job than employees working regular shifts. The longer an employee works a shift, the more these factors come into play.

The strategies introduced so far work well in an office. What about employees who don’t work in an office? What about employees who regularly come in contact with the public?

Some creativity will be required for these employees. For example:

• Police patrols may need to be completed with one officer rather than two, or officers may need to wear face masks during their work hours.
• Fire trucks may need to be deployed differently than usual.
• Medical personnel should always wear personal protective equipment (e.g., breathing masks) when at work.

Employees who must work in close proximity to each other, or regularly come in contact with the public, should be a priority for vaccines.

You may want to establish hotlines, web postings, and telephone trees to communicate pandemic status, plans, and actions to employees in a consistent and timely fashion.

Also, you may want to share materials that educate employees about:

• The fundamentals of pandemic influenza (e.g., symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission).
• Personal and family response strategies (e.g., hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans).
• Community and workplace mitigation strategies (e.g., social distancing, provision of infection control supplies).

Influenza is thought to be primarily spread through large droplets produced when infected people cough, sneeze or talk, sending the relatively large infectious droplets and very small sprays (aerosols) into the nearby air and into contact with other people. Safe hygienic practices will be critical to protect employees. Therefore, all employees should be encouraged to:

• Wash their hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand cleaner if soap is not available.
• Cover their mouths and noses with a tissue when coughing or sneezing or into their upper sleeves if tissues are not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Stay home if they are sick.

Organizations should also encourage employees to use a paper towel when touching door handles, telephones, and other surfaces with which they come in contact, rather than touching these surfaces directly.

To a lesser degree, influenza is spread by touching objects contaminated with influenza viruses and then transferring the infected material from the hands to the nose, mouth, or eyes. It is important to maintain proper workplace hygiene by:

• Frequently disinfecting common surfaces including phones, door knobs, handles, breakroom counters, coffee pots, and switches.
• Discouraging employees from using other employees' phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment.
• Providing no-touch trash cans.

It’s time to stop and check your planning process by answering the following questions:

• Have you established and exercised social distancing procedures (i.e., teleworking, social distancing, shift work)?
• What is the cost-benefit analysis of closing non-critical common areas, such as break and lunch rooms, and ensuring that shifts do not commingle during shift changes?
• Have you identified additional support services (including mental health services) that workers and their families may need during and after the pandemic?
• What is your plan for notifying personnel in the event of an outbreak?
• Do you have a plan for communicating with a disperse workforce?
• Is your telecommunications/IT infrastructure capable of shifting calls, data, and management of field operations off-site?
• Have you establish hotlines, web postings, or telephone trees to communicate pandemic status, plans, and actions to employees in a consistent and timely fashion?
• Have you educated the workforce on personal hygiene measures?
• Have you determined the types of personal protective equipment and infection control measures that are most appropriate for your workers?
• What worksite cleaning procedures and hygiene measures need to be enhanced to ensure a safe working environment for your employees?

"Interdependencies" refer to the interrelationship among critical infrastructure sectors. These linkages vary in scale and complexity and may include:

• Services or supplies (e.g., energy, water, banking, etc.) that you need in order to provide essential services.
• Cyber networks and communication infrastructure that transmit information required to operate your essential services.

During a pandemic influenza outbreak lack of personnel in one sector will affect all interrelated sectors. The next section provides examples of potential interdependencies that you may need to consider when developing your plan.

Click on this link to learn more about the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource (CIKR) Sectors.

Overview

Protecting and ensuring the continuity of the critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) of the United States are essential to the nation's security, public health and safety, economic vitality, and way of life.

• Critical Infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, public health or safety, or any combination thereof.
• Key Resources are publicly or privately controlled resources essential to the minimal operations of the economy and government.

Attacks on CIKR could significantly disrupt the functioning of government and business alike and produce cascading effects far beyond the targeted sector and physical location of the incident. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (HSPD-7) established U.S. policy for enhancing CIKR protection by establishing a framework for partners to identify, prioritize, and protect the nation's CIKR from terrorist attacks.

The directive identified CIKR sectors and designated a Federal Sector-Specific Agency (SSA) to lead CIKR protection efforts in each.

National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides the unifying structure for the integration of a wide range of efforts for the enhanced protection and resiliency of the nation's CIKR into a single national program.

CIKR Sectors

• Agriculture and Food.
• Banking and Finance.
• Chemical.
• Commercial Facilities.
• Communications.
• Critical Manufacturing.
• Dams.
• Defense Industrial Base.
• Emergency Services.
• Energy.
• Government Facilities.
• Healthcare and Public Health.
• Information Technology.
• National Monuments and Icons.
• Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste.
• Postal and Shipping.
• Transportation Systems.
• Water.

Additional Information

• Visit the Department of Homeland Security Web site (www.dhs.gov) to download a copy of the NIPP document or obtain additional information.
• Take a FEMA Independent Study Program Course:
• Course IS-860.a, National Infrastructure Protection Plan provides an introduction to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan.

Organizations that depend on a national supply chain may find themselves without the necessary materials, supplies, and workforce because other communities across the country may still be affected by an outbreak.

It is important to talk to suppliers and service vendors about their pandemic planning. Find out how they intend to support their customers and where they feel their “breaking points” are. Don’t accept explanations such as, “We don’t expect any disruptions.” Ask what their continuity plan is.

Given an increased reliance on “just-in-time” delivery and the potential impacts that could interrupt your supply chain, it is important to coordinate with suppliers ahead of time to ensure you can obtain essential items.

Stock enough supplies for the first wave, if possible. Stocking supplies for the anticipated 8- to 12-week first wave will need to be covered in the organization’s budget and may need to be “sold” to the leadership. Make sure to restock between waves.

Ensure supplies are staged and available at each worksite. Staging may be complex, especially if your organization pursues a telework strategy. Build a “trigger” into the planning process so that essential personnel have a definite point at which they will need to get the supplies they need for an extended period away from the office. In addition, you may need to plan for security to protect your inventory.

Develop contingency plans for equipment and systems that:

• Identify the systems or equipment that are required to provide essential services.
• Allow for the repair of failed primary and supporting equipment with a reduced workforce and potential supply shortages.
• Prioritize those systems and equipment that require regular maintenance (e.g. vehicles, cyber systems) in order be ready for use in an emergency situation.
• Arrange for replacements parts or systems for all essential equipment on-site or locally.

During a pandemic, personnel movement may be restricted and transportation systems may be disrupted. Communication, whether internal or external to the organizations, may become more difficult. Each organization and the entire jurisdiction should review its communications plan to determine if:

• Personnel will be able to communicate effectively with other organization’s personnel and with external customers even if they are dispersed to different locations.
• Contingency plans have been developed in case communications fail and vendor support is unavailable.

Remember that essential functions must continue during a pandemic and effective communications systems will be imperative.

Click on this link to access requirements for communications.

Emergency communications systems must support connectivity, under all conditions among key leadership, internal elements, other agencies, critical customers, and the public.

Use the information below as a guide to reviewing your organization’s communications systems.

Emergency communications systems should:

1. Possess interoperable and available communications capabilities in sufficient quantity and mode and that are commensurate with the organization’s responsibilities during emergency conditions.
2. Possess communications capabilities that can support the organization’s senior leadership and key personnel while in transit.
3. Be readily available and maintainable for more than 30 days or until normal communications can resume.
4. Satisfy the requirement to provide assured and priority access to communications resources.
5. Be of sufficient capabilities to accomplish the organization’s essential functions, whether from an organization’s primary facility, an alternate facility, or a mobile unit.

All organizations at all governmental levels, private entities, and nongovernmental organizations should review their communications programs and systems to ensure they are fully capable of supporting a pandemic and give full consideration to supporting social distancing operations, including telework and virtual offices.

It’s time to stop and check your planning process by answering the following questions:

• What services, systems, or equipment are required in order to provide essential services?
• Have your sources provided written assurances that they will be able to perform under pandemic conditions?
• What might you be able to substitute as temporary backups for preferred essential supplies or equipment?
• Have you considered partnering with another organization in order to merge resources and integrate essential service capacities given the potentially limited access to supplies, systems and equipment?
• How will you maintain the flow of inventory items to compensate for an increased demand in services if a disruption in your supply chain develops?
• Do you have adequate materials and supplies should you decide to house your workers onsite (e.g., food, water, cots, clothing, blankets, hygiene products, backup generators, etc.)?
• How will you maintain and repair primary and supporting equipment with a reduced workforce and potential supply shortages?
• Do you have replacements available for all essential equipment on-site or locally?

Pandemic plans must be tested, trained, and exercised to ensure that strategies work as developed. Pandemic scenarios should be incorporated into every organization’s TT&E plan.

When conducting TT&E, be sure to:

• Test Information Technology systems to ensure that they support large-scale telework or that system updates can be accomplished without disrupting operations.
• All operations can continue with dramatically fewer persons.
• Verify that essential personnel know whom to contact if other personnel become ill. Verify that pandemic plans will work for periods of 12 weeks or longer.

Be sure to include medical providers and other critical personnel in TT&E programs.

All organizations and jurisdictions should conduct an evaluation of pandemic operations in the same way as for other incidents:

• Get feedback from essential and nonessential personnel.
• Allow all personnel the opportunity to provide post-pandemic feedback.
• Determine what feedback applies to other types of incidents.
• Revise the plan, as necessary.

Throughout this course you have had an opportunity to assess your planning efforts in the following areas:

• Identifying Essential Services
• Addressing Workforce Considerations
• Implementing Workforce Protection Measures
• Ensuring Availability of Critical Services, Supplies, and Equipment

• Have you identified and prioritized your essential services?
• Have you determined:
• How the pandemic influenza impact delivery of these essential services?
• Which of your services will be most needed, and can you estimate the increased demand for them during an influenza pandemic?
• What functions and services can you suspend during an influenza pandemic?
• How will pandemic influenza affect your mutual aid and assistance agreements?

• Have you determined the effects of high absentee rate on your organization?
• What types of workers will be in high demand in an influenza pandemic? How will you ensure there will be enough workers to meet the demand?
• Have you considered the impact of any authorized outside employment (i.e., second jobs) during an influenza pandemic?
• Have you addressed succession planning in your pandemic plan? Consider building in random ‘deletion’ of personnel in your pandemic exercises to test the ability of your organization to function and deliver services without certain workers.
• How can the community assist in providing essential services (e.g., medical/nursing educators and students and reserve/auxiliary or retired personnel)?
• Do you have a cross-training plan to prepare workers for nonstandard positions?
• Have you adapted existing and/or developed new (i.e., more flexible) personnel policies to address pandemic situations?

• Have you established and exercised social distancing procedures (i.e., teleworking, social distancing, shift work,)?
• What is the cost-benefit analysis of closing non-critical common areas, such as break and lunch rooms, and ensuring that shifts do not commingle during shift changes?
• Have you identified additional support services (including mental health services) that workers and their families may need during and after the pandemic?
• What is your plan for notifying personnel in the event of an outbreak?
• Do you have a plan for communicating with a disperse workforce?
• Is your telecommunications/IT infrastructure capable of shifting calls, data and management of field operations off-site?
• Have you establish hotlines, web postings, or telephone trees to communicate pandemic status, plans, and actions to employees in a consistent and timely fashion? Have you educated the workforce on personal hygiene measures?
• Have you determined the types of personal protective equipment and infection control measures that are most appropriate for your workers?
• What worksite cleaning procedures and hygiene measures need to be enhanced to ensure a safe working environment for your employees?

• What services, systems, or equipment are required in order to provide essential services?
• Have your sources provided written assurances that they will be able to perform under pandemic conditions?
• What might you be able to substitute as temporary backups for preferred essential supplies or equipment?
• Have you considered partnering with another organization in order to merge resources and integrate essential service capacities given the potentially limited access to supplies, systems and equipment?
• How will you maintain the flow of inventory items to compensate for an increased demand in services if a disruption in your supply chain develops?
• Do you have adequate materials and supplies should you decide to house your workers onsite (e.g., food, water, cots, clothing, blankets, hygiene products, backup generators, etc.)?
• How will you maintain and repair primary and supporting equipment with a reduced workforce and potential supply shortages?
• Do you have replacements available for all essential equipment on-site or locally?

There are numerous resources to help your organization or jurisdiction get the most from your planning in the shortest period of time. Before beginning pandemic planning, it would be beneficial if you would print these resources.

• Pandemic Influenza: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, Guide for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources.
• Federal Continuity Directive 1 (FCD 1), Federal Executive Branch National Continuity Program and Requirements (Jan 17, 2017).

Each of these documents includes checklists and other job aids to help your planning effort.

Click on the links above to access and print these documents.

Flu.gov [www.flu.gov] is an excellent source for updated information and additional planning guidance.

The World Health Organization [https://www.who.int ] is another excellent source for updated information.

The Center For Disease Control[https://www.cdc.gov] gives important information, like steps to take and updates.

The Office of Personnel Management [https://www.opm.gov] provides information on personnel management.

The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency [https://www.cisa.gov] is another resource that can help.

This course provided you with basic information that every organization should be aware of when preparing for or operating during a pandemic.

You are now ready to take the course exam.