The document outlines the importance of pandemic and emergency preparedness for First Nations communities, emphasizing the need for proper planning to protect populations during disasters. It details planning steps, such as forming committees, assessing risks, and developing procedures, while also discussing the psychological impact of emergencies on individuals. The text highlights the significance of communication and training in ensuring effective responses to various potential emergencies.

1. PANDEMIC & EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS FOR
FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES
Chris Hylton, CG Hylton & Associates Inc.
Chris@hylton.ca
Toll Free Tel. 800 449-5866 or Tel 403 264-5288
1
INFONEX: 11:30-12:30 Weds Feb 9 2011 Ottawa

2. • People assume that in any disaster, government agencies will
step in to save them: Hurricane Katrina Report
2

3. If you fail to
3
plan…….
You have planned
to fail!

4. 4
“The only possible benefit of
NOT planning is that disasters
will come as a complete
surprise and will, therefore, not
be preceded by long periods of
paranoia and depression!”

5. Global Trends in Major Disasters
Source: Environment Canada
5
Source: 2009 SUMA CONVENTION

6. Why Prepare?
6
 Tornadoes Power outage
 Severe Snow Computer system failure
Storms
Flood: External and internal
 Blackouts
 Floods
Fuel Leak
 Chemical Spills
Bomb incident
 Fire Civil disorder
 Explosion Workplace Violence Incident
 Water outage Barricade / hostage incident

7. Duty to Act - Planning
7
 Governments & Corporations in Canada have
“Due Diligence” obligations to plan for the
protection/support of their
populations, clients, and personnel:
 Moral
 Ethical
 Financial
 Legislated

8. Disaster Planning
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 What is it?
 Why do it?
 What is the end product?

9. Your employees:
9
1. How many employees will show up? Remember
they have their own families to take care of and
their own issues
2. Where do they live?
3. Are they affected directly by the event?
4. Do you have a plan to evacuate responding
employees should the situation worsen?
5. Do you have a plan to compensate those who do
respond?

10. Essential Services
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 Can you maintain them and how?
Gas
Electricity
Water
Communications
(Remember you are dependant upon others to provide
certain services)

11. Expect:
11
 Emergency Services will be busy and/or possibly
overwhelmed, and you may not see them for some
time
 More then one Emergency Situation may be present
 Panic and chaos
 Criminals attempting to take advantage of the
situation

12. Where to Start?
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 Form a committee
 Find previous plans, if available
 Know legal and other requirements
 Perform risk assessment
 Collect information
 Develop procedures
 Write the plan
 Distribute plan
 Train staff
 Continue to modify plan

13. Form a Committee
13
 Establish authority
 Leadership buy-in
 Make the committee membership representative
of the entire organization
 Appoint one person to head the committee
 Give each committee member specific
assignments
 Ensure all committee members understand their
purpose and responsibilities

14. Find Previous Plans, if any
14
 Save time by starting with previous plans
 Review previous plans for accuracy
 Use plans to determine what needs work
 Keep plans (especially electronic versions) for use
when writing the updated plan
 If there is no previous plan, look at a plan from
another agency or institution

15. Collect Information
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 Important phone numbers
 Emergency (fire, police, etc.)
 Staff (work, home, cell)
 Internal resources (building information, supplies)
 External resources (insurance, recovery services)
 Information systems
 Analysis from risk assessment
 Salvage priorities (vital records list)
 Past disaster plans or examples of disaster plans

16. Develop Procedures
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 Evacuation procedures (with maps)
 Emergency procedures
 Disaster procedures
 Recovery procedures
 Other incident procedures
 Shut down procedures / security check lists
 Who will talk to media, families, children

17. Write the Plan
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 A disaster plan is actually a set of plans
 List of key personnel (with contact information)
 Building information (emergency systems, etc.)
 Emergency services (with contact information)
 Salvage priorities (vital records)
 Procedures
(evacuation, emergency, disaster, recovery, other
incidents, shut down/security check)
 Information systems (with backup information)
 List of supplies

18. Use centralized control by one
person for the plan
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 Role of Manager
 Planners
 Coordinators
 Know who to call
 Training

19. Train Staff
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 A disaster plan will not function without a
trained staff to follow the plan
 Training could include:
 Reading the plan
 Lecture / Discussion
 Demonstration / Simulation
 Training could cover:
 Use of fire extinguishers
 Evacuation routes
 Other specific procedures

20. Telephone fan out
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 One calls five
 Each of five calls five
 Message gets out immediately
 What system do you have in place?

21. Have emergency maps handy
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 At home at work
 Details of escape route
 Practise escape
 Have alternative escape route
 Practise alternative
 Have resource materials on
hand for others, books on death
for kids

22. Who will talk to media
22

24. Lockdown
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 Dangerous person in your midst
 Practise lockdown in the facility
 Locking doors
 Secure area
 Safety of children, clients

25. 25
Used with permission of Bob Thaves

26. H1N1, Bird Flu, SARS
Pandemic Emergencies

27. PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS
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AND RESPONSE
First, to minimize serious illness
and overall deaths and
second, to minimize societal
disruption among Canadians as a
result of an influenza pandemic.

28. Potential Source of Pandemic Influenza Virus
28
Human
Non-human
Virus
Virus
Reassorted
Type “A” may undergo major
Viruses are PROLIFIC and virus
changes in “H” and/or “N” from
very PROMISCUOUS little
genetic re-assortment which has
beggars!
potential for pandemic influenza.

29. Timeline of Emergence of
Influenza A Viruses in Humans
29
Avian
Influenza
H9 H7
H5 H5
H1
H3
H2
H1
1918 1957 1968 1977 1997 2003
1998/9

30. Pandemics occur 3-4 times each
century!
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Unpredictable!
A constantly mutating virus!
If the H1N1 virus doesn’t cause a
pandemic, another one will!

31. History
31
10 Pandemics in Last 300 years
1918-1919: Spanish Flu (H1N1)
 Attack Rate 25% (High mortality in the young)
 40 million deaths in less than 1 year
1957-1958: Asian Flu (H2N2)
 Attack Rate 25% - 30%
 1 million deaths (High elder mortality)
1968-1969: Hong Kong Flu (H3N2)
 Attack Rate 20% - 25% (High elder and higher
adult mortality)
 1 million deaths
 Swine Flu deaths - 26 per 100,000

32. 32

33. It won’t hurt a bit
33

34. Diverse location of Aboriginal
Communities
 Federal MOH needs jurisdiction and legal powers
to access information in order to conduct efficient
surveillance (vigilance) and
 To implement efficient control measures
(intervention)
34

35. 35

36. Possibility of « designated authority » from provincial Public
Health Acts to federal Regional Medical Officers (RMOs) in
the Provinces
36 Source : Jean-François Savard, Office of Community Medicine, 2007

37. Basic Hygiene
37
 Hand washing
 Sneezing
 Sanitizer
 Hand shaking
 School open
 School closed

38. Mental Health
“EVEN HEROES NEED TO
TALK.”
Role of Employee Assistance Plan
(EAP)
One of the marketing slogans for Project
Liberty, New York’s post-9/11 Crisis Counseling
Program

39. Physical Reactions
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 Fatigue, exhaustion
 Gastrointestinal distress
 Appetite change
 Tightening in throat, chest, or stomach
 Worsening of existing medical conditions
 Somatic complaints

40. Emotional Reactions
40
 Depression, sadness
 Irritability, anger, resentment
 Anxiety, fear
 Despair, hopelessness
 Guilt, self-doubt
 Unpredictable mood swings
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Apathy

41. Cognitive Reactions
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 Confusion, disorientation
 Recurring dreams or nightmares
 Preoccupation with disaster
 Trouble concentrating or remembering things
 Difficulty making decisions
 Questioning spiritual beliefs

42. Behavioral Reactions
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 Sleep problems
 Crying easily
 Avoiding reminders
 Excessive activity level
 Increased conflicts with family
 Hyper-vigilance, startle reactions
 Isolation or social withdrawal
 Changes in appetite

43. Chronic Stressors
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 Family disruption
 Work overload
 Gender differences
 Bureaucratic hassles
 Financial constraints

44. Encourage Responders to:
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 Drink plenty of water and eat healthy snacks
 Take frequent, brief breaks from the scene
as practicable especially if they are coming
home to work in a first responder capacity
 Talk about their emotions to process what
they have seen and done
 Stay in touch with family and friends
 Participate in memorials, rituals, and use of
symbols as a way to express feelings
 Pair up with another responder to monitor
one another’s stress

45. Strategies in Response
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 Self-care
 Peer Support
 Humor
 Decide to talk
 Seek help from credible and trusted sources
 Get extra rest
 Use constructive coping strategies

46. Strategies in Recovery
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 Long term assessment for risk
 Journaling
 Practice “relapse prevention”
 Lifestyle and health promotion
 Role models/partnering/mentoring

47. Our offer to you
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 Please call if you have any HR, or workplace issue
that you are overwhelmed with
 We can help you
 We also are pleased to do Free Workshops for
your organization (some limits apply) Let us know
what your needs are and we will make it happen!

48. CG Hylton - Services
 HR Consulting  Benefits, Pensions,
 Job Descriptions EAP
 Strategic Planning
 Salary Grids
 Drug and Alcohol
 Wellness at Work
programs
 Staff Morale
 Dept re-orgs
 Training and Workshops
 Leadership
compensation
Tel 403 264 5288
chris@hylton.ca
48

49. Do you have any:
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 Comments?
 Questions?
 Feedback?
Chris Hylton
800 449 5866
chris@hylton.ca