The Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector

4.0 Pandemic Influenza Education
4.1 Pandemic Influenza Education for Health Care Workers
(Including Emergency Medical Services, mortuary workers, and HCWs in
correctional settings)
Recommendations
1. Educational information for workers should be provided as soon as WHO Pandemic
Phase 0 Level 1 is declared (see Appendix II) and repeated at frequent intervals to all staff
levels and during all shifts.
AIII
2. The pandemic influenza information should be appropriate to the audience and be
provided using a variety of methods, e.g., postings in elevators, at facility entrances,
brochures, newsletters and web sites.
AIII
3. The educational information prepared and provided for workers should include:
(a) an explanation that pandemic influenza is a novel strain of influenza and what a
pandemic is;
(b) the facility-specific pandemic influenza plan;
(c) information regarding triage settings (see Section 7.1 ), self care (see Section 7.2)
and temporary influenza hospitals ( see Section 7.3).
(d) the difference between an upper respiratory infection and influenza (see the
introduction to the Preparedness Section of the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan);
(e) the mode of influenza transmission (see Section 2.4);
(f) the criteria for determining, influenza-like-illness (ILI) ( see glossary for definition and
Appendix IV for an ILI Assessment Tool) and influenza (see glossary for definition);
(g) the risk of infection and subsequent complications in high-risk groups;
(h) the message that strict adherence to hand washing/hand antisepsis
recommendations is the cornerstone of infection prevention and may be the
only preventative measure available during early phases of the pandemic ( see
Appendix III);
(i) information about the importance of hygienic measures (see Section 2.5) to
minimize influenza transmission because influenza immunization and/or prophylaxis
may not be available until later in the pandemic;
(j) information indicating that, during the early phase of an influenza pandemic, it may
be feasible for HCWs to wear masks when face-to-face with coughing individuals to
minimize influenza transmission (particularly when immunization and antivirals are
not yet available) but not practical or helpful when transmission has entered the
community (see Section 2.6). Masks may be worn by HCWs to prevent transmission
of other organisms from patients with undiagnosed cough;
(k) who will be given the highest priority for immunization when vaccine is available,
Annex F 11