[LINK] Pandemic pandemonium

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Jan Whitaker wrote:
> At 10:30 AM 10/06/2009, Tom Worthington wrote:
>>> ... the anecdotal stories like the one David pointed to are still a 
>>> worry. ...
>> The story was useful in illustrating a mindset which needs to be 
>> changed: that there is someone I can phone to fix my problem for me. 
>> Health professionals do not have the time, nor are they equipped, to 
>> explain how to deal with swine flu to each individual in Australia. 
>> In the event of a pandemic, medical services will only be available 
>> to the most seriously ill, everyone else will have to be cared for 
>> by family and volunteers.
> 
> But that's my point perfectly. The advice given by the government, 
> the Minister in fact, was to call the GP. It's not a matter of the 
> caring after one is diagnosed, it was the confusion over the 
> particular circumstance of a particular individual and the 
> impressions about the need for testing. A website will not help an 
> individual make a diagnosis. It has to be Real medical attention.
<snip>
> Sorry about the rant, Tom, but I think you and many others think that 
> central information is the key to this, but it isn't for those who 
> have the need for next tier action like medical care.
<snip>
Jan,

A website will help disseminate useful and accurate information to GPs and the 
public. What you probably don't want is a whole lot of potential swine (or 
other) flu sufferers turning up in emergency or hospitals, where there are sick, 
with other flu and diseases who have low immunity.  And we don't want our 
medical people to get sick either.

Besides the automatic download of a WMV clip...this info on the NSW site:
> The Australian Government has made H1N1 Influenza 09 a quarantinable disease. The NSW Government has made human swine influenza a notifiable disease
the phone number is way down the bottom of the page
> Department of Health and Ageing swine influenza information hotline 1802007
<http://www.emergency.health.nsw.gov.au/swineflu/index.asp>

Though they have a
> What can you do?
> 
> Influenza is spread from person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people. There are many things you can do to prevent getting and spreading influenza:
<http://www.emergency.health.nsw.gov.au/swineflu/consumers/index.asp>

This isn't as comprehensive as the US...which offers multiple channels...and 
Plan and Prepare  Checklists
<http://www.pandemicflu.gov/>

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: (+61)0414 869202