If you listen to some people, bird flu’s just around the corner. How will healthcare workers cope? How will they react?

In a recent survey conducted in Maryland, many healthcare workers say they won’t bother to show up for work if a flu pandemic occurs. Those who don’t think they are vital to operations, such as computer data entry staff, clerical workers and receptionists, are the least likely to report for work.

Some stats:

• 1/3 say their work makes them high risk of contracting flu
• 42% say they wouldn’t not respond
• 40% thought they’d be asked to go to work if there were a pandemic
• 33% felt knowledgeable about the health impact of pandemic flu

What to do?

Dr. Daniel J. Barnett, an instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health Preparedness in Baltimore:

We need to focus on giving each worker a better sense of the pandemic scenario and the importance of his or her personal role in responding to it as a health department employee. In addition, we need to give workers confidence that the agencies will give them adequate personal protective equipment.

Shouldn’t we be doing this even without bird flu hanging over us?

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