2008 Woodie Awards
Officials establish emergency pandemic plan
By Dustin DeRosa
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: News
Mandatory plans for establishing a hazard mitigation plan as ordered by the federal government have descended to local governments as SRU works to establish an emergency plan for possible disease outbreaks.
Pennsylvania's Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 gave life to a series of plans aimed at preventing damage to state universities and surrounding communities. The program is part of a plan to create mandatory DRUs (Disaster Resistant Universities) statewide, including SRU.
Bill Williams, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, is a part of the committee working to finalize the Pandemic Plan for SRU by the end of this semester.
"This is not an easy thing to think through," he said. "It is important to try to be prepared."
John Bonando, assistant vice president of Student Life, is also working closely on the program, as well as a similar plan for Butler County.
"We don't know what situation will be handed to us," he said.
There are many hypothetical situations university officials have been keeping in mind while establishing a possible emergency plan. While officials will be aware of what to do should a health emergency arise, others will be informed as backup in case the university administration falls ill and can't handle the situation.
"We are trying to plan with redundancy," Bonando said. "In case one of us gets sick and can't tell students what to do, others will be in line."
Both Williams and Bonando said that it would be important to keep a chain of command in action, foreseeing communication being a critical force in a successful containment and prevention program.
A vast effort will be made to inform students about these kinds of emergencies: posting the university's Web site, making phone calls and sending out e-mails.
"If we were at a critical point, there would be a lot of information distributed," Williams said.
The status of academics in a state of possible crisis is one of the largest concerns being addressed. The best strategy reviewed so far would be to close the university for the rest of the semester, starting the next semester by finishing the previous classes that would be followed by a break before starting spring semester.
These classes would be ending in the summer, eliminating summer classes, but allowing for students to earn all the credits possible during the academic fall and spring semesters
"If we had 30 percent of faculty out, we couldn't run business," Williams said.
If the faculty can't come to work, they don't get paid, and if they stop paying bills, social order begins to deteriorate, Williams said.
Other concerns involve the loss of food service workers.
It was decided by the members of the team working to prepare for a pandemic outbreak that it would be best to try to keep social distance to stop disease from spreading. Shutting down SRU could possibly have worse consequences than those incurred by leaving it open.
People would travel home and may be unknowingly infected with an illness that could remain hidden for up to 48 hours.
Kristina Chiprean, director of the McLachlan Student Health Center, is also working closely with the program to deal with a pandemic outbreak.
"The influenza family is the most common cause of epidemics worldwide," Chiprean said. "We don't know what the next pandemic will be."
Washing hands frequently is common advice found in many health-related documents, including information from the Homeland Security.
Rachel Seeman contributed to the reporting of this story.
Pennsylvania's Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 gave life to a series of plans aimed at preventing damage to state universities and surrounding communities. The program is part of a plan to create mandatory DRUs (Disaster Resistant Universities) statewide, including SRU.
Bill Williams, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, is a part of the committee working to finalize the Pandemic Plan for SRU by the end of this semester.
"This is not an easy thing to think through," he said. "It is important to try to be prepared."
John Bonando, assistant vice president of Student Life, is also working closely on the program, as well as a similar plan for Butler County.
"We don't know what situation will be handed to us," he said.
There are many hypothetical situations university officials have been keeping in mind while establishing a possible emergency plan. While officials will be aware of what to do should a health emergency arise, others will be informed as backup in case the university administration falls ill and can't handle the situation.
"We are trying to plan with redundancy," Bonando said. "In case one of us gets sick and can't tell students what to do, others will be in line."
Both Williams and Bonando said that it would be important to keep a chain of command in action, foreseeing communication being a critical force in a successful containment and prevention program.
A vast effort will be made to inform students about these kinds of emergencies: posting the university's Web site, making phone calls and sending out e-mails.
"If we were at a critical point, there would be a lot of information distributed," Williams said.
The status of academics in a state of possible crisis is one of the largest concerns being addressed. The best strategy reviewed so far would be to close the university for the rest of the semester, starting the next semester by finishing the previous classes that would be followed by a break before starting spring semester.
These classes would be ending in the summer, eliminating summer classes, but allowing for students to earn all the credits possible during the academic fall and spring semesters
"If we had 30 percent of faculty out, we couldn't run business," Williams said.
If the faculty can't come to work, they don't get paid, and if they stop paying bills, social order begins to deteriorate, Williams said.
Other concerns involve the loss of food service workers.
It was decided by the members of the team working to prepare for a pandemic outbreak that it would be best to try to keep social distance to stop disease from spreading. Shutting down SRU could possibly have worse consequences than those incurred by leaving it open.
People would travel home and may be unknowingly infected with an illness that could remain hidden for up to 48 hours.
Kristina Chiprean, director of the McLachlan Student Health Center, is also working closely with the program to deal with a pandemic outbreak.
"The influenza family is the most common cause of epidemics worldwide," Chiprean said. "We don't know what the next pandemic will be."
Washing hands frequently is common advice found in many health-related documents, including information from the Homeland Security.
Rachel Seeman contributed to the reporting of this story.
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