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Shult Serves as Expert Reviewer for National Pandemic Influenza Practices Database

MADISON -- Peter Shult, Ph.D., director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division and Emergency Laboratory Response, served as one of the expert reviewers that selected items for inclusion in the new PandemicPractices.org database.

Developed by the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and the Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, the web site brings together more than 130 peer-reviewed promising practices from four countries, 22 states and 33 counties. Two of the entries are from Wisconsin – Barron County's Influenza Pandemic Mortuary Planning  and Polk County's Pandemic Special Population Planning.
 
According to CIDRAP and the Pew Trusts, the goal of PandemicPractices.org is to save communities and states time and resources by sharing approaches to three key pandemic flu issues: altering standards of clinical care, communicating effectively, and delaying and diminishing the impact of a pandemic.
 
The materials can be searched by state or topic, as well as by special-interest issues, such as: materials translated into multiple languages, materials for vulnerable populations, and school toolkits.  Among other topics on the site are practices that showcase how to:

• manage scarce resources during a pandemic,

• share core messages in multiple languages,

• safeguard vulnerable populations,

• provide medical care when hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed,

• teach people to care for ill family members at home, and

• engage schools to reduce the spread of illness.

PandemicPractices.org news release (PDF)
 

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