Influenza Preparedness Resources

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Tools and Resources for Influenza Preparedness

This page contains public health resources and tools for local health departments to use in preparing for and/or responding to influenza. To download the resource list in PDF format, click here.

For the most up-to-date information on the current H1N1 influenza (swine flu) outbreak, visit the CDC's H1N1 flu Web site.

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»	Pandemic Planning
»	Public Education and Vulnerable Populations
»	Samples, Templates, and Exercises
»	Healthcare Resources
»	Legal Preparedness Resources
»	Emergency Risk Communication
»	Federal Resources
»	NACCHO Policy Statements

Pandemic Planning

At Risk Populations and Pandemic Influenza: Planning Guidance
In 2007, The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), in cooperation with NACCHO, developed recommendations for state, territorial, tribal, and local health officials on how to protect at-risk populations during an influenza pandemic.

Business Not As Usual: Preparing for Pandemic Flu
A 20-minute video for businesses, government agencies and community based organizations to assist with pandemic flu planning efforts.

Influenza Pandemic Response Plan
The purpose of this Influenza Pandemic Response Plan is to mitigate the impact of an influenza pandemic.

Pandemic Influenza Plan
This plan outlines the department's preparations for and plans for responding to a pandemic influenza.

Texas A&M Health Science Center is offering planning sessions to assist municipalities in managing school closures due to a major public health emergency. These sessions are designed to improve the proficiency of school systems, administrators, and faculty.

Pandemic Influenza School Planning Toolkit
This toolkit was created to assist local public health departments in partnering with the schools within their jurisdictions for pandemic emergency preparedness planning.

Local Health Department Guide to Pandemic Influenza Planning
This guide is intended for use by local health departments as part of a multi-sector effort to coordinate planning for and response to a pandemic influenza outbreak.

Pandemic Flu Preparedness Resources for Business Engagement
These resources will describe the Public Health - Seattle and King County business engagement and outreach plan, provide tools for other local health jurisdictions, including sample letters, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and provide resources for businesses.

Pandemic Flu Planning Guidance for MRC Units
This toolkit provides a broad range of pandemic influenza planning and response actions that can be adapted and used by MRC units nationwide.

Clinic Planning Model Generator
Software to create a Microsoft Excel workbook for POD planning.

Vaccine Allocation Model
A Microsoft Excel workbook that can determine how many persons in different target groups can receive treatment if the number of vaccinations available is limited.

Public Education and Vulnerable Populations

Home Care Guide: Providing Care at Home during Pandemic Flu
The Home Care Guide for Pandemic Flu can be used to help community members prepare at home to take care of sick family or household members.

Pan Flu and Us
A toolkit designed for public health departments to engage the Home Care Community to plan for pandemic influenza.

No Ordinary Flu
No Ordinary Flu is a comic that illustrates a compelling story through the eyes of a survivor of the 1918 pandemic and connects to the present-day threat, including crucial preparedness messages.

Stop the Spread! A Toolkit for Preventing the Spread of Germs in Clinics and Office Settings
This tool focuses on infection control measures that clinics and offices can take to prevent the spread of germs, including influenza.

Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza Presentation
A presentation designed to serve as a resource for local health departments, individuals, or organizations to educate their communities on pandemic and avian influenzas.

Pandemic Influenza: Quarantine, Isolation and Social Distancing - Field Guide for Public Health
This field guide for pandemic influenza addresses human behavior as a consideration during planning efforts.

Preparing for Pandemic Flu Pocket Guide
The customizable Pandemic Flu Pocket Guide outlines what the public should know about pan flu.

Samples, Templates, and Exercises

Sample Plan for Vaccination with Strain-Specific Influenza Vaccine during an Influenza Pandemic
This document offers an example of tiered priority groups for influenza vaccine in the event of a pandemic when resources will likely be scarce.

Sample Household Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Checklist
This document offers a sample for what might be included on a checklist to help households in a jurisdiction prepare for a possible outbreak of pandemic influenza.

Sample Clinical Algorithm for Case Management for Pandemic Influenza
Drawn from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan, this document offers two sample clinical algorithms.

Sample Plans for the Use of Antivirals during a Pandemic
This document provides two plans for the use of antivirals during a pandemic: one for a situation prior to the availability of vaccine and one once a vaccine has been developed.

Sample Suspect Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Specimen Submittal Form
This document offers a sample for what might be included in instructions for submitting potential influenza A specimens for laboratories.

Sample Temporary Isolation Order for Pandemic Influenza
This document provides a sample of a temporary isolation order that can be used to hold individuals temporarily until the Health Officer is notified and able to evaluate whether there is a need for additional action.

NACCHO's Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise Template
This exercise template was developed and tested by local health officials to help local health departments design and conduct discussion-based tabletops exercises of pandemic influenza response functions.

Public Health Preparedness Exercise Toolkit with Avian Flu Tabletop
The purpose of this document is to summarize the federal guidance on preparedness exercises and make this information readily accessible to local public health.

Master the Disaster! An Interactive Tabletop Exercise Builder for Public Health Emergencies
This interactive, customizable, emergency preparedness tabletop exercise builder was designed specifically for public health agencies.

The Texas A&M University's National Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response Center developed a comprehensive exercise program based on information gleaned from an analysis of the spread of the H1N1 virus. The exercises are conducted by Simulation Education Services (SES). (SES, an affinity partner of NACCHO, offers discounts on H1N1 influenza preparedness exercises and services for NACCHO members)

Antiviral Use and Distribution: Reports from Demonstration Sites
In 2008, the City of Milwaukee Health Department (WI) and Buncombe County Health Center (NC), in collaboration with regional partners and NACCHO, held exercises to examine operational challenges surrounding the receipt and distribution of antivirals in the event of pandemic influenza.

Healthcare Resources

Hospital Surge Capacity Toolkit
This toolkit is intended to assist healthcare facilities in thinking through critical issues related to healthcare surge and to create comprehensive plans to address these needs.

Medical Mass Care during an Influenza Pandemic – Guide and Toolkit for Establishing Care Centers
This toolkit provides scalable, operational direction and tools for the establishment of alternative care sites, i.e. Influenza Care Centers (ICC) to meet the healthcare needs of patients requiring hospital care who are not able to receive such care at one of the local hospitals.

Legal Preparedness Resources

Guide for Developing an MOU for Multi-Sector Response to Pandemic Respiratory Disease (CDC)
An MOU tool for pandemic preparedness: "Coordinated Implementation of Community Response Measures (Including Social Distancing) to Control the Spread of Pandemic Respiratory Disease: A Guide for Developing an MOU for Public Health, Law Enforcement, Corrections, and the Judiciary."

Case Study: "Strengthening the Coordination of Public Health and Law Enforcement during an Influenza Pandemic" (CDC)
An excerpt from CDC's "Forensic Epidemiology 3.0" training, which is designed to help public health and law enforcement agencies strengthen coordination of responses to pandemic influenza and similar threats.

Pan-Flu Preparedness Legal Checklist for Healthcare Providers (CDC)
This checklist is a scalable tool designed to assist providers along the continuum of care as well as the broader healthcare and public health communities in taking concrete steps to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

Swine Flu Legal Preparedness and Response Resources (The Centers for Law and the Public's Health)
This Web site contains various information, including memoranda, articles, checklists, and other documents accessible online or in PDF format.

For more legal preparedness resources, visit the CDC Public Health Law Program Web site.

Emergency Risk Communication

Emergency Risk Communication for Public Health Professionals
Developed in collaboration with the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, this Web-based course was designed to provide an introduction to emergency risk communication concepts and principles.

Risk Communication and Public Education Tool Kit
The goal of the CERC Toolkit is to provide information and materials to other public health departments and assist in the development and organization of public information activities.

Speak First: Communicating Effectively in Times of Crisis and Uncertainty
A proven, practical training for building the skills to delivering first messages in the early hours of a crisis.

Federal Resources

Update on School (K–12) and Childcare Facilities: Interim CDC Guidance in Response to Human Infections with the Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus
This document provides updated interim guidance for schools and childcare facilities regarding the prevention of the spread of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Pandemicflu.gov Web Site
PandemicFlu.gov provides access to current information on the swine flu outbreak and serves as a central repository of information around pandemic flu planning.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Library of Medicine, Swine Flu Resources
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Web site provides numerous links to sources of information on U.S. federal and international response; guidance documents for professionals; maps, news feeds, and social media; information and literature (including full-text books); and information in Spanish.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
This Web site provides guidance on preparing workplaces for an influenza pandemic.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
The AHRQ Web site provides numerous tools and resources for influenza preparedness.

H1NI Information Packet (HHS, DHS, and ED): Materials for state and local health officials to use to educate constituents over the coming month and to help spread the word to all Americans that preventing the spread of the flu is a responsibility we all share. The Packet includes:

For a complete list of the most up-to-date CDC H1N1 guidance, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance/.

NACCHO Policy Statements

Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Procurement and Distribution

Stockpiling and Distribution of Antivirals for Pandemic Influenza

Local Health All-Hazards Preparedness