Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
In this Avian Influenza scenario, one final task awaits for the PIO, as it will be
him/her, or you, that will have to deliver the news either in the next couple of hours
or in the coming days that the person diagnosed originally to set off this response
has passed away. Again, this will be a time to prevent panic among the population
in your jurisdiction, and to stress that although this is an extremely unfortunate
event, everyone involved in the response is doing their job, and there is no further
immediate threat to the public. Through your long-standing communications with
a Avian Influenza expert in your jurisdiction, he has been able to report back to
you that this was, in fact, an isolated case after all, and there is no threat to the
population.
Upon this news, again, communication with the public is key. As the response
winds down and any necessary cleanup and breakdown of equipment and such
takes place, the Emergency Management cycle is not over. Now, the Preparedness
stage begins all over again. Beyond practice drills and tabletop exercises, the PHO
now has a live event to study, learn what went well, what went wrong, and what
should be done, and how the emergency response should be altered should this situ-
ation occur again. In a sense, Emergency Management for the PHO never really
ends, because the PHO is always either involved in a response, or training for the
next one. Although it may seem overwhelming, this is in fact the key to being a
successful contributor to the entire emergency response operation.
