Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 17.6 Public health messages are not a new technique for addressing
pandemics, but one that will need to continue. (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.)
Recovering after a Pandemic
Pandemics have a powerful effect on a population. Nearly every measure of a com-
munity or nation can be affected. For example, the average life span of U.S. citizens
dropped nearly 12 years in the year following the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918
and 1919. The way citizens behave, and the way they see themselves and each other,
fundamentally changes when a pandemic devastates their way of life. Recovery,
therefore, is neither an easy nor a quick process.
Specific guidance addresses recovery from pandemics. For example, DHS has
prepared a document, “Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
Guide for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources.”
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This document focuses on
businesses (stating as its purpose to “stimulate the U.S. private sector to act now”),
but it specifically includes consideration of recovery activities following a pandemic.
“Continuity of Operations-Essential (COP-E) is the central concept in the guid-
ance, wherein COP-E is an extension and refinement of current business contin-
gency and continuity of operations planning that fully exploits existing efforts and
integrates ... the suite of business disaster plans. The COP-E process assumes severe
pandemic-specific impacts to enhance and complement existing business continu-
ity plans.”
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Relevant to recovery, COP-E incorporates an approach for “survival”
under distinct COP-E scenarios, and it enhances business continuity planning to
