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New CDC Guidelines for Captains (aviation & maritime) and Flight Attendants regarding Reportable Diseases
The CDC has just issued new guidelines for captains (aviation & maritime) and flight attendants regarding ill passengers/crew with reportable symptoms. According to 42 CFR Part 71 - The captain of an aircraft or yacht/cruise ship is required to report to the CDC if a passenger or crew member is ill with a possible Quarantinable disease. The CDC has posted the new guidelines for captains (aviation & maritime) as well as guidelines for flight attendants. For a complete guide visit
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/cruiships.htm.
Travel Industry Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist
Businesses in the travel industry will play a key role in protecting the health and safety of their personnel and travelers in the event of a pandemic. Planning and coordinating with public health and emergency management agencies at the local, state, national, and international levels are critical. To help with this, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed the following checklist.
Click
here for the checklist.
National Aviation Resource Manual for Quarantinable Diseases
 The Department of Transportation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services has just released a new publication
National Aviation Resource Manual for Quarantinable
Diseases. This manual that outlines the response to and recovery from a quarantinable disease incident of major public health significance at an international airport in the United States. The target audiences for the manual are airlines, airports, federal response agencies and other first responders, local and state health departments, and other local and state government stakeholders that would be involved in the response to or recovery from an incident.This comprehensive manual provides excellent information for the aviation industry re: the planning and response to a pandemic. The document can be found
here.
NEW FEDERAL/CDC
INTERIM PRE-PANDEMIC PLANNING GUIDANCE
The CDC and many agencies in the US Government have issued new information and guidelines for pre-pandemic planning and mitigation. The document –
Interim Pre-Pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Mitigation in the United
States, can be found at www.pandemicflu.gov.
These guidelines emphasize that the best protection against the spread of a pandemic influenza before a specific vaccine is available is through community strategies that do not involve medications or vaccines. These interventions called NPI (non-pharmaceutical interventions, i.e. social distancing, hand washing, cough etiquette) will serve as a very important first line of defense to delay the impact of a pandemic until vaccines are available. This document provides specific information for companies/communities/families to assist in their pandemic planning.
In addition, the Federal Government has developed a “category system” similar to the hurricane warning system currently in use, to warn citizens of the threat level. This “category system” coincides with the “Phase” system issued by the WHO. This new system provides specific guidance for action at each stage. Specific information can be found in the above referenced document. The world and the US remain at a Level 3 alert.
NEW OSHA GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING
WORKPLACES FOR A PANDEMIC
New Guidelines have been published by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) entitled “Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic”. The new document includes the following information:
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Employee protection during a pandemic
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Assessment of the risk of exposure in your workplace
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How to maintain operations during a pandemic
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Information re: personal protective equipment
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Information re: employees working abroad
This document provides essential information for companies to use during their pandemic planning. The link to this document can be found at
www.pandemicflu.gov.
Pandemic Preparedness Planning for US Businesses with Overseas Operations
The US government website dedicated to pandemic flu planning –
www.pandemicflu.gov - has just issued new guidelines for Pandemic Preparedness for US Businesses with Overseas Operations. This website includes checklists and detailed information to guide companies in their preparedness planning with specific emphasis on the unique issues facing overseas operations.
(more
information)
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