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Guidance for Alterations in
the Healthcare System During a Moderate to
Severe Influenza Pandemic
Guidance for Alterations in the Healthcare
System During a Moderate to Severe Influenza
Pandemic
An influenza pandemic will dramatically strain
medical resources and possibly require a shift
in medical resources from a standard of care
focused on the individual patient to an altered
standard that does the most good for the most
patients. The Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment (CDPHE) assembled a
working group of professionals in public health
and hospital preparedness, immunization,
epidemiology, ethics, pediatrics, emergency
medical services, infectious disease, emergency
medicine, internal medicine, family practice,
ambulatory clinical care, behavioral health and
law to develop clearly understood and widely
accepted guidance that is reasonable and
clinically sound to Colorado’s healthcare
providers, systems and facilities for consistent
and equitable triaging and ethical
administration of finite medical resources
during a pandemic. The goal of this document is
to ensure that all persons seeking guidance or
care are addressed in the same manner and
directed to the appropriate level of care during
a moderate to severe influenza pandemic.
In the event that the current novel influenza A
H1N1 virus, or future pandemic influenza virus,
begins to dramatically overwhelm the healthcare
system, the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic
Response Committee (GEEERC) will be consulted to
decide whether a state of emergency should be
declared and whether this triage guidance
document should be implemented within Colorado’s
healthcare system.
*NOTE: at this time, the novel influenza A
H1N1 virus is not showing signs of being a
moderate to severe pandemic requiring the use of
this tool.
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