Director's Message

March 31, 2006

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail." Unknown

Yesterday, the Governor, together with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, convened Oregon's first Pandemic Influenza Summit. The event was organized by our Public Health staff and they did a fantastic job. Many thanks. It was a great success.

Are you prepared for a flu pandemic or for other emergencies? Read on and I'll provide more information about what you can do to get prepared. But first, a little bit about the Summit.

The purpose of the Summit was to promote awareness of Oregon's pandemic flu preparedness efforts to date, to improve understanding of the roles of federal, state and local public health agencies and first responders in protecting the public's health and safety if and when a pandemic occurs, and to urge all Oregonians to take steps that will lessen the impact of a flu pandemic on themselves and their families.

The Summit brought together state and federal leaders who have important roles in ensuring that the State of Oregon has an effective system for responding to an influenza pandemic or similar large-scale disease outbreak.  Attendees included leaders from public health, hospitals, healthcare, emergency management, education, business and community organizations, as well as state and federal officials from a number of offices and agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.

More than 200 participants heard the critical work our Public Health office and their partners are doing to ensure the health, safety and well-being of each of us.

Our public health staff will be among the key players advising the Governor not only if we have a major flu outbreak, but also in the event of an earthquake, tsunami, bioterrorism attack or major chemical spill. And, not to alarm you, but those are only examples.

Public Health Director Susan Allan, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., and her staff promote preparedness every day by helping to ensure that Oregon is ready for any eventuality. They are making concrete plans for any emergency that might come their (and our) way.

Emergency preparedness is in addition to all the other things that Public Health does such as ensuring safe drinking water, tracking down communicable disease outbreaks, inspecting restaurants, promoting pro-exercise and anti-tobacco messages, all of which will be celebrated during National Public Health Awareness Week, April 3-9.

As for preparedness, each of us can contribute on two additional levels.

First, in your professional life, you can help ensure that the clients you work with are prepared for emergencies and are safe.

Second, on a personal level, you can protect yourself, your family and others whom you care about. An easy, well-known but unfortunately little-practiced safeguard is to have a bag containing the clothes, toiletries and other items you would need if an emergency forced you out of your home, as well as having flashlights, food, water and other supplies at home. In addition, you should develop a family communication plan, because you may not be together when an emergency occurs.  You can read the advice of DHS Public Health's Grant Higginson by going to his column at on the DHS Web site.

Mark Twain understood both the value of preparation and the time it requires.  He remarked, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." Have a good week.

To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us

This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.

If you have a disability and need this message to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us, or call (503) 947-5107. You can also fax your request to (503) 373-7690, or call (503) 947-5080 for TTY service. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.