Via the Arizona Republic: 12-hour shifts part of pandemic plan. Excerpt:
In a pandemic flu outbreak, Gilbert police and firefighters could find themselves working 12-hour shifts to make up for staffing shortages as other town employees work from home and communicate with co-workers exclusively via e-mail and telephones to prevent infection.
The measures are part of a pandemic flu response plan outlining how town departments will deliver services such as street maintenance, water and emergency response in the face of up to 40 percent of employees out sick or caring for family members.
The plan, an addendum to the town Emergency Operations Plan, is scheduled to go before the Town Council on Tuesday.
"It's just one of those situations where you have a short sheet, and you've got to figure out how to cover up your feet or cover up your head," Gilbert Fire Chief Collin DeWitt said of coping with a shortage.
DeWitt said his department is working out how to best offer service in a pandemic situation, although 12-hour shifts could be used to stretch manpower in a shortage along with strategic station closures.
Advanced planning also is needed because disappearing services, such as water treatment and trash collection, could exacerbate a public health crisis, said Lonnie Frost, town public works director.
"If you're not producing (clean) water when people open the faucet, that becomes a health and safety issue," Frost said.
NewsNow is displaying a number of such planning stories from US media. It's encouraging to see that local authorities are thinking about this, and getting media attention.
