Have you decided what facility services you will maintain or cut in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak? What staffing level will be required to maintain these services? Are you prepared to house people on-site? Do your contracts include "critical-personnel, will stay on-site" language? These are some important questions to ask yourself as you prepare your organization for a potential pandemic flu outbreak. What are your outsourcing partners telling you? Are you undertaking any job crosstraining initiatives?

If you represent a college or university, are you planning for any changes in student housing policies?

Useful links:

Colleges and Universities Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/collegeschecklist.html

U.S. Government DHHS website for pandemic flu planning: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/

Blueprint for flu preparedness from Arthur J. Gallagher RMS: http://www.ajg.com/portal/providers/fileopen.asp?ID=537565