Title
Chief Administrative Office and Health Services Departments providing the Board of Supervisors with a status update on the 2009 seasonal flu, H1N1 and the County of El Dorado's Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP).
Body
The County of El Dorado provides vital services to the community. As a result, reliability is the fundamental mission of every department. Should a crisis disrupt essential departmental operations, the County would not be able to fulfill its fundamental mission in the absence of continuity of operations planning. The County has an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) that is used to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major disasters such as fire, flood, and earthquakes.
This Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) is a supplemental tool designed to help the County
effectively perform day-to-day core services and functions when there is significant crisis over a longer period of time. Continuity of Operations for a pandemic influenza is different from a natural disaster in that there is no physical damage, there is no definitive beginning or end, it is unpredictable, and more people will potentially be affected over a larger area. A pandemic is a global outbreak of disease that occurs when an infectious agent emerges in the human population, causes serious illness, and then spreads easily from person to person worldwide.
The most probable pandemic that could threaten El Dorado County is a new influenza like the H1N1, which emerges in the human population. Widespread illness throughout the County poses not only severe health risks; it is a major threat to the human infrastructure staffing critical facilities and can have severe economic and social consequences. The timeframe for a pandemic outbreak could range from several months to a year. The capability to transfer authority and responsibility for essential functions from a department’s primary operating staff to other employees and to sustain that operational capability for an extend...
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