Advancing Disaster Preparedness and Response Capabilities

by Kitty Taylor

Seventy officials from businesses, chambers of commerce, humanitarian organizations, and federal, state and local emergency management agencies last week participated in a two-day workshop to improve business continuity and long-term recovery after a pandemic flu outbreak. Convened by BCLC and held at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters, the workshop challenged participants to reduce the barriers to coordinating an effective, cross-sector pandemic flu response.

"We hope we never have to suffer through a pandemic flu outbreak," said BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan. "However, we’ve learned from bitter experience that we need to be better prepared for any eventuality."

The workshop was a step forward in creating better understanding of the roles the different sectors would play in response to a pan flu outbreak. Three advancements from the workshop were:

• Robust discussion on the unique needs and innovation necessary to handle the community breakdown from pandemic flu
• Identification of short-term steps that can be taken immediately to improve the ability to respond to a pandemic flu threat
• Creation of a private-public committee in the Pacific Northwest to solidify pandemic flu readiness and response capabilities

"The workshop was a strong step toward solidifying public and private sector partnerships for a pandemic response," commented Claire Bonilla, Microsoft’s Senior Director for Disaster Management. "I think the various stakeholders now have a deeper appreciation for the strengths each of us offer, and a commitment to formalize how we bring them to bear for preparedness, response and recovery efforts."