This is the entire special issue of “Crisis Manager” that I just distributed to subscribers about this subject. Look for updates on this blog soon.
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¤¤CRISIS MANAGER¤¤
BREAKING CRISIS ALERT
<04-26-2009/issn:1528-3836/©2009>
Editor: Jonathan Bernstein, jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com
“For Those Who Are Crisis Managers, Whether They Want to Be or Not”
Circulation: 4,500+
Estimated Readership: 17,000+
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MEXICAN SWINE FLU EMERGENCY GOES GLOBAL!
By Jonathan Bernstein
Every reader of this ezine, every organization with which you’re
associated, can now potentially be affected at a crisis level by
the swine flu outbreak in Mexico which has not only killed at least
80 people there but which has already spread across the border to
the United States and overseas to New Zealand — a deadly gift to
22 students and three teachers who visited Mexico recently.
Steps you should take immediately:
(1) Educate yourself on swine flu. The best starting place is
the Center for Disease Control at:
https://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/key_facts.htm. That fact sheet links
to more data. According to the CDC, “The symptoms of swine flu in
people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human
seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite
and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny
nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.” It spreads
just like “regular” flu — through the victim’s coughing, sneezing
and/or touching someone else. It cannot, according to the CDC’s
info, be spread by eating pork.
(2) Anyone who comes and goes from Mexico regularly should be
particularly alert for signs of flu and go to a physician immediately
if those symptoms occur.
(3) Employers should ensure that all employees know of this threat
and are urged to report symptoms in themselves or others
immediately
(4) Be prepared for business interruptions if your workforce is
impacted; health officials could even quarantine groups of people
who they believe have had direct contact with someone already
infected.
(5) Have messaging ready for clients or customers who want to
know what you’re doing to protect them.
(6) If you have operations in Mexico, strongly consider a
temporary freeze on outbound travel by employees there and
inbound travel by employees already out of the country.
(7) Retail food organizations may get some customer fear about
consuming pork. As noted above, the disease can’t be spread that
way. Nonetheless, your employees CAN spread the disease and
common sense measures that are probably already in place (e.g.
handwashing) should probably be the focus of refresher training.
(8) Err on the side of caution. This disease apparently spreads
easily and the way such illnesses become epidemics is too many
people going about “business as usual” without taking extra
precautions.
As I collect additional reliable information on this topic, or
have any updated crisis management recommendations, I will post
them on my blog, https://bernsteincrisismanagement.blogspot.com.
If you have crisis management-related questions (not health
questions please!) on this subject, please email them to me,
jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com, and I will start a
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that will be
maintained and updated on the blog.
Be well! Be prepared!
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>>PLAIN ENGLISH DISCLOSURE<<>>ABOUT THE EDITOR & PUBLISHER<<>>LINKS<<>>LEGAL DISCLAIMER<<
All information contained herein is obtained by Jonathan Bernstein
from sources believed by Jonathan Bernstein to be accurate and
reliable.
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