This is the PanFlu Plan I Want to Read

Richard Branson, star of a failed reality television program but  chairman of a very successful Virgin Atlantic, is stockpiling Tamiflu for his staff: (emph mine)

In a sign of growing travel industry concern about a possible global flu pandemic, Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson said Wednesday he had purchased 10,000 courses of medicine for the airline’s employees to use in the event of an outbreak.

At a news conference held in conjunction with a global health summit in New York, first reported on CNBC, Branson said he bought enough of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to treat up to 10,000 airline crew members, who he said would be on the front lines of any pandemic.

I wonder if the story is right about growing concern in the airline industry and what that means exactly.  This comes a little later in the story:

He said he began assembling his company’s pandemic response plan six months ago.

That's the panflu plan I want to get my hands on.  Judging from Branson's behavior and his observation that airline travel would be shut down in the even of any pandemic, it's likely a realistic and comprehensive look at some possible scenarios we can expect when a panflu hits.  In fact, I'd love to know how any big company plans to deal with staffing concerns and supply line disturbances.  I'm guessing that the private sector is coming up with some good ideas and solutions to problems that are going to impact us but which we, outside the loop, would have a harder time imagining.

I wasn't a fan of BushCo's big "When Is a Plan Not a Plan?" announcement earlier this week so here's a piece of  good advice for the beleaguered CEO president: call some of your captain of industry pals, put them together with some government officials representing every region of the country and level of government, grab whatever public health officials you haven't downsized and hold a PanFlu summit (that's right, a summit where there aren't a hundred thousand anti-you demonstrators) to explore what the public and private sector can expect to face and what each can offer.  I'm pretty sure this kind of thinking was covered in some of those fancy bidness classes you slept it off in.

Comments

[PSoTD]

eR - you might want to check out International SOS, which advises companies about various risks, including panflu.

[PSoTD]

I don't know much about International SOS. Privately held company. They recommended in August or earlier that large companies stockpile (hoard) flu-related items, from Tamiflu to sanitation items, etc. It may be their efforts are what lead to the decision a few weeks ago to reduce importing of Tamiflu for the time being.