CIDRAP summit to address employee protection measures during H1N1 pandemic

Business and healthcare leaders looking to fast-track preparedness for the H1N1 pandemic are gathering with infectious disease experts and Fortune 500 planners this month to determine how best to protect their employees and preserve their operations.

"The novel H1N1 influenza is rapidly morphing into its second wave assault. Within eight to 10 weeks, every organization will confront how to cope with sick employees and stay in business," according to Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., an international authority on pandemic influenza and business preparedness and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

CIDRAP designed the two-day working summit, Keeping the World Working During the H1N1 Pandemic: Protecting Employee Health, Critical Operations, and Customer Relations, to rapidly prepare organizations for a pandemic threat that many considered theoretical but now see as immediate or emerging. CIDRAP will host the summit September 22-23, 2009, in Minneapolis.

"We're beyond theory and onto execution. The pandemic is here. And we need every business to recognize the impact they can have. It's not too late, but time is of the essence," Osterholm said. Results of a national survey of businesses reported last week by the Harvard School of Public Health confirm widespread concern about sustaining already-lean enterprises in the face of H1N1-related absenteeism and supply chain issues.

Reality checks on vaccine, supply chain, telework issues

Among plenary and breakout sessions addressing such concerns are:

• Responding to H1N1 with vaccines and antivirals: cutting through the fog
• Preventing transmission in the workplace: discerning fact from fiction
• How three world-leading companies responded in the early days of H1N1
• Travel management: sharing policies and "trigger points" for restricting travel
• Dealing with differing "rules of the road" by city, county, state and country
• The impact of the pandemic on your supply chain: identifying and addressing gaps

The CIDRAP summit will focus on ensuring participants learn tips, tools and strategies they can put into action immediately. A complete roster of more than 50 speakers, the full agenda and registration information are available at the summit Web site.

Summit organizers, presenters and break-out session chairs include private- and public-sector preparedness experts whose pandemic plans were tested and adapted when the novel H1N1 pandemic broke out last spring and who are interested in sharing with peers successful practices, policies and tactics.

They include human resources, business continuity, supply chain, logistics, medical, public health, and government professionals from such organizations as FedEx, Target Corporation, Dell Inc., Mattel, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, General Mills, Premier Inc., 3M, Hormel Foods Corporation, Monsanto Company, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, International SOS, Harvard University, and many more.

Special tracks to address high demand on healthcare, human resources

Two industries have been singled out for separate tracks: healthcare and human resources, both of which experienced a surge in demand for their services during the spring outbreak.

Healthcare—CIDRAP partnered with the Premier Inc. healthcare alliance to design a track to address healthcare industry-related issues, including protecting healthcare workers and patients, and the availability and distribution of pandemic-related protective barriers, medical supplies, and antivirals and vaccines. “Hospitals and healthcare providers are already experiencing the added strain of treating patients with H1N1 and properly communicating to a cautious general public, challenges that will only increase with the rising numbers of cases,” said Gina Pugliese, R.N., vice president of the Premier Safety Institute.

Human resources—Professionals in human resources (HR) found themselves on the front line during the spring outbreak, balancing rapidly changing guidance and new developments about the novel H1N1 virus. CDC guidance makes clear that one of the most effective ways companies can respond to a pandemic is ensuring HR policies allow sick workers to stay home. "This track addresses head-on the host of questions raised in trying to meet such guidance. Presenters will share the practical, often innovative, strategies they found in the spring and what they're doing now," said summit organizer Aaron Desmond, CIDRAP director of business preparedness.

Keeping the World Working During the H1N1 Pandemic: Protecting Employee Health, Critical Operations, and Customer Relations is the third national summit to be hosted by CIDRAP. Previous summits have drawn more than 600 participants from 400 organizations and featured more than 70 expert speakers, including high-level corporate executives and government officials. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged to attend.

• September 22-23, 2009 (Tuesday and Wednesday)
  • Day 1: Registration at 7 a.m.; sessions 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; networking 7:30-9 p.m.
  • Day 2: Breakfast at 7 a.m.; sessions 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Marriott City Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Online registration is available for organizations and the media
• For more information, see the summit Web site or call Summit Registration Headquarters toll-free: 1.800.351.0232