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Facemasks / Respirators
Which should you use?
Generally speaking...
N95 respirators protect YOU.
Facemasks protect OTHERS.
Flu viruses usually enter through your nose, mouth, or eyes. An N95 respirator (above) helps block the viruses by filtering very small particles - including germs - from the air you breathe. Wear it when caring for or otherwise exposed to the sick.
Tip: Some have a one-way vent/valve (as in picture above) for easier exhaling & to reduce heat build-up.
> Limited Supplies <
NOTE: N95 respirators are in limited supply. Some local pharmacies and medical supply stores are out. Others are limiting quantities per purchaser.
Facemask (above) mainly helps keep you from spreading germs when you cough or sneeze. Protects other people from your germs. Wear it if you're sick. Use once; don't share.
Buy NOW!
"A New Pandemic Fear: A Shortage of Surgical Masks"
-TIME magazine, 5/19/09
"Flu's Spread in Japan Causes Shortage of Surgical Masks"
-Wall St. Journal, 5/22/09-- N95 Respirators --
» drugstore.com
» Medical Supply Group
» Nitro-Pak
» CHIEF Supply
-- Facemasks --
» drugstore.com
» Medical Supply Group
..
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Steps For Businesses
Are your contingency plans applicable to a pandemic?
If 25-30% absenteeism, are essential functions covered?
Can core activities be sustained several weeks?
Have alternate outside sources.
Offer customers online &
self-serve options.Enable work-from-home.
Tell employees your plans.
Have a healthy work environment.
Empower the sick to stay home. Revise policies.
Plan for interrupted public services (sanitation, water).
Telecommuting in a Pandemic
A pandemic
attacks people,
not property.
Job #1:
Protect your people.- Slow the flu's spread.
- Reduce absenteeism.
- Boost morale.
- Reduce healthcare costs & healthcare system overload.
Strategy - Reduce exposure by reducing personal contact. "Social distancing."
Tactic - Segregate your staff. Use multiple locations/shifts, including temporary offices and working from home. Telecommuting tools (below) keep employees connected & keep work flowing.
--- Telecommuting Tools ---
GoToMyPC
- To access your PC .. network .. data .. email from ANYWHERE.
GoToMeeting
- To conduct online meetings, conferences & presentations with ANYONE.
USB flash drives to manually carry applications and data files for use elsewhere.
» Portable applications
» U3 "personal workspace"Sources - USB flash drives:
EDGE Tech Corp
Crucial
Buy.comSpecials
onSale.comSpecials
Amazon.comSources - U3 smart drives:
EDGE Tech Corp(DiskGO U3)
Amazon.com(many brands)
LEARN MORE from my posts about Telecommuting:
» Remote PC access
» Online conferencing
» USB flash drives
» Portable applications
» U3 smart drives
Product & Service Ideas
Categories
- 1918 Spanish flu pandemic
- Antivirals
- Avian flu - General info
- Bird flu - General info
- Bird flu reports - Indonesia
- Business continuity
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- Business preparation <---
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- Community preparation <---
- Conferences & Events
- Containment
- Economic impact
- Educational materials
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- Gloves - latex
- Government activities
- H1N1 - General info
- H5N1 - General info
- Hospitals & Healthcare
- Human resources
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- Impacts - Effects <---
- Isolation & Quarantine
- Legal considerations
- Masks - N95 respirators
- Misinformation
- Pandemic
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- Personal preparation <---
- Planning assumptions
- Relenza antiviral
- Risk assessment
- Risk communication
- Sanitizers
- Schools & Universities
- Science
- Shortages
- Small Business
- Social distancing
- Stockpiling - Self-sufficiency
- Supply chain
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- Swine flu
- Swine flu - Canada
- Swine flu - Mexico
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- Tamiflu antiviral
- TELECOMMUTING
- TELECOMMUTING - Services <---
- The Threat
- Transportation industry
- Travel
- Treatment
- Vaccines
- WHO
_ _ _
- How it works
- Who needs it
- Where to get it
Understand why it's
OK to buy TamifluAsk your doctor/clinic
or a reputable
online pharmacy
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Categories
- 1918 Spanish flu pandemic
- Antivirals
- Avian flu - General info
- Bird flu - General info
- Bird flu reports - Indonesia
- Business continuity
- Business impact
- Business preparation <---
- CDC
- Community preparation <---
- Conferences & Events
- Containment
- Economic impact
- Educational materials
- Flu virus
- Gloves - latex
- Government activities
- H1N1 - General info
- H5N1 - General info
- Hospitals & Healthcare
- Human resources
- Hygiene
- Impacts - Effects <---
- Isolation & Quarantine
- Legal considerations
- Masks - N95 respirators
- Misinformation
- Pandemic
- Pandemic-related products
- Personal preparation <---
- Planning assumptions
- Relenza antiviral
- Risk assessment
- Risk communication
- Sanitizers
- Schools & Universities
- Science
- Shortages
- Small Business
- Social distancing
- Stockpiling - Self-sufficiency
- Supply chain
- Surveillance
- Swine flu
- Swine flu - Canada
- Swine flu - Mexico
- Swine flu - U.S.
- Tamiflu antiviral
- TELECOMMUTING
- TELECOMMUTING - Services <---
- The Threat
- Transportation industry
- Travel
- Treatment
- Vaccines
- WHO
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With these selected posts...Things you need to know about pandemic influenza
-- World Health Organization
» Flu pandemics recur.
» All countries will be affected.
» Expect widespread illness.
» Medical supplies will be inadequate.
» Expect great disruptions.
Respirators; Family-sized
emergency food unitsTrickle-down Theory:
Federal - State - YOU
Because a pandemic affects many people in many places at once, federal governments can only provide limited local help. They'll do all they can. But that won't be enough.Why waiting till the last minute to prepare is dangerous
Short notice.
Limited supplies.
Why be vulnerable?
Latex gloves & sanitizers
for infection controlWhy all the talk about a "three-day supply?"
A pandemic likely would last more than a year, coming in multi-week waves. Obviously, a three-day "disaster kit" is not sufficient.
What do you do on the fourth day of a "three-day supply?""Stockpiling" is not a dirty word
Stockpiling can help reduce the spread of a pandemic flu. We need more of it.
Supplier of family-sized
emergency food unitsFighting a flu pandemic from 1918-era supply shelves
In a pandemic, it doesn't matter what medical treatments we have today, if we don't have enough of them at the point and time of need."Just in time" versus
"Just in case"
The Wall Street Journal notes that "just-in-time" deliveries and inventories are at odds with the "just in case" rationale behind emergency preparedness planning.The world supplies my local Wal-Mart
A chain with many links has more chances for disruption.In a pandemic, sickness is just part of the problem
Less apparent indirect consequences (ripple effects) might be widespread.You're right, it's not 1918.
Is that good or bad?
Yes, we have modern advantages. But we also have inadequate surge capacities, complex modern systems, and changed populations.What is Tamiflu? How does it work? Who needs it?
Tamiflu can reduce the length and severity of the flu.
Q: Should you buy a personal supply?In the event of a major flu pandemic, who keeps the kids?
Closed schools & daycares.
Parents, what do you do?
Employers, what do you do?Risk communication during a disease outbreak
WHO says the overriding communications goal is trust. Be candid. Acknowledge uncertainty. Avoid excessive reassurance. Trust the public's ability to handle it.Other key posts:
PRODUCTS & SERVICES - CATEGORIES
Planning assumptions of the U.S. Pandemic Influenza Plan
FOR BUSINESSES 10 Steps Your Business Can Take
» Add infectious diseases to contingency plans.
» Identify essential functions, personnel, and outside activities.
» Tell workers about your pandemic plan.
» Enable work-from-home.Telecommuting - A business lifeline
As a business risk, an infectious disease attacks people, not property. Telecommuting tools help reduce personal contact, protecting people from infection. How to use
GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting, and USB flash drives.
Access your PC .. data ..
email from ANYWHERE.A lot of my employees are out sick ... and so are yours
Running a business with 25% absenteeism. Up and down the supply chain, the same problem.Some legal aspects of corporate pandemic planning
Can you send a sick employee home? Also:
leave policies, workers' compensation, health insurance, union agreements.*My approach to this blog:
» It's more reference site than running commentary.
» Some posts are long -- "backgrounders" on uncommon topics.
» I may post in spurts, rather than daily -- and sometimes retroactively. I revise content, as needed.
._
Glossary
Antiviral - A type of drug that kills or weakens a virus or....
Asymptomatic - Having a disease, but showing no....
Business continuity plan - A comprehensive written plan....
Cytokine storm - When an immune system overreacts....
General Sources of Information
GLOSSARY (antiviral, CDC, ...)
Situation Updates - Avian influenza - WHO
Official U.S. government pandemic flu site
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services
Hong Kong Government Information Centre
Singapore Government Bird Flu Site
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (Univ of Minnesota)
National Pandemic Plans
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