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(Lincoln, NE) Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, Nebraska’s Director of Homeland Security, and Dr. Joann Schaefer, Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer, returned this week from a national summit on pandemic flu preparations involving state and emergency management officials.
“This summit was an excellent opportunity to share the progress our state has made in planning for a public health emergency,” Lt. Gov. Sheehy said. “Nebraska was one of the first states to initiate high-level coordination through Homeland Security and a Governor’s pandemic flu task force, and our progress in this area is evidence of our ongoing commitment to ensure Nebraska is ready to respond to emergencies of all kinds.”
The federal summit, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), brought state and local health officials together to encourage the kind of planning Nebraska has been doing for an integrated response to a flu pandemic and to help strengthen planning efforts at the local level. National health experts have said that if pandemic flu strikes, local communities will serve as the first line of defense against a larger outbreak.
Dr. Schaefer said, “We’d be foolish not to prepare when Mother Nature is giving us signs that the flu virus continues to change. Our work with the public and private sector to develop response plans now will save lives in the event of a major a health crisis.”
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt plans to visit all 50 states to spur discussion and interaction among state and local health officials on pandemic flu preparations. Secretary Leavitt is expected to visit Nebraska in the coming months. A specific date has not been set.
The state was part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focus group on pandemic flu in September. In addition, the Nebraska Homeland Security Senior Policy Group met as recently as Oct. 20 to discuss statewide planning, training and coordination with regard to Nebraska’s pandemic flu preparations.
This week’s federal summit was part of President George W. Bush’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. In addition to state and local officials, the summit was attended by members of the White House Homeland Security Council and leaders with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More information is available online at http://www.pandemicflu.gov.
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