Ad astra per porci?

Has the long-awaited influenza pandemic begun in the tinderbox of Mexico? Yesterday the Canadian equivalent of the CDC issued a BOLO to Canadian customs people for travellers returning from Mexico. This morning the World Health Organization announced that upwards of 900 people have become infected in Mexico City and surrounding areas and later in the morning Mexico City shut down its schools. Cases of swine flu in San Diego and San Antonio may be related, but no one is sure yet. Please note that "swine" flu, like "avian" flu and "Spanish" flu, can infect humans without any contact with pigs, birds, or Spaniards. They're just named after their natural reservoirs or wherever they were first noticed in people.

The unusual (read: scary) thing about this strain is that, like the 1918-19 near-apocalypse, it affects primarily people in the prime of life. If SARS and its attendant hysteria was any indication, this could turn into a nightmare for fire departments and EMS agencies around the country and especially in the border regions.

Things to think about:

1. Lots of dyspnea calls, many of which will require ventillatory support
2. Our own workforces may be hard hit and you may have to make do with holding people over on shift
   
3. The economy runs on Just In Time inventory systems; a pandemic that hits healthy adults the hardest could cripple the JIT system, possibly delaying or making unavailable things like food in the grocery store, HEPA masks at the pharmacy, Lysol and Clorox, and parts for your vehicles
4. In 1918-19 things collapsed, and that was with more local resilience (local food and dairy, local craftsmen, and inventory) and fewer people dependent on the fire department for their healthcare

If this thing takes off it could be a real adventure for the fire service.

Or it may fizzle out, but even if it does you should use it as a teaching moment about preparedness.


CDC's running swine flu updates here.