North American (Swine) Flu Update

With reports of probable North American flu (a.k.a. swine flu) cases in Central Texas, planning and activities are escalating at the Seton Family of Hospitals to prepare for a possible influx of patients which could continue over some length of time.  

There are no confirmed North American flu cases within Seton. There is however an increase in the number of positive Influenza A cases being seen at our facilities.

Seton continues to closely monitor the situation and is participating in daily city and state emergency planning meetings focused on clinical and operational issues, as well as strategy regarding public information. Daily network meetings are being held to decide the best methods to meet the needs of associates, physicians, patients and their families. In addition, a team of physician and clinical leaders is meeting regularly to discuss clinical concerns and propose recommendations.

As you may have heard, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) announced it is closing the Lucy Read Pre-Kindergarten School in North Austin due to identification of a “probable” case of North American flu in a 4-year-old student. According to county health officials, the child was diagnosed on Sunday and is at home doing well.

Triage Level 1

Given the escalation of this healthcare event and its expected continued expansion, Seton has initiated Code Triage Level 1.

Actions to take place during this phase include but are not limited to:

1. Instituting a functional or virtual incident command process at each site that includes an onsite leader (House Supervisor, etc.) as a designated incident commander.
2. Locating and readying incident command center resources.
3. All departments completing an initial disaster resource status report that should be updated daily and sent to the network incident command center when requested.
4. Conducting situational briefings for leadership and staff at the department level.
5. Departmental review of response procedures.
6. Network-wide communications to physicians and associates providing operational and self-care guidance.