Sioux Falls, SD (KELO AM) - Sioux Falls residents can be confident that their community health partners are prepared for emergency events.
“Whether we are planning for flu season, conducting immunization clinics, educating the public about Enterovirus-D68, or talking about health care preparedness and Ebola, community partners have been working together to help protect the health of Sioux Falls for many years,” says Public Health Director Jill Franken.
Since 1997, planning partners from local hospitals including Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center and Sanford USD Medical Center and along with City and County officials, the Sioux Falls School District, the National Guard, and the Sioux Falls Regional Airport have worked together to monitor situations, coordinate response plans, and provide communications to the residents of Sioux Falls.
“This Unified Command process has prepared us to respond to a variety of threats in the community,” says Franken. “We have used this process for many responses, including the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, 2013’s Operation Timber Strike!, and several flood events.”
The risk of an Ebola outbreak in the United States remains low; and at this time, there are no suspected cases of Ebola in Sioux Falls, but community partners continue to meet. With two cases of influenza already diagnosed in South Dakota, their planning efforts include working together to remind people that now is the time to get your flu shot, practice good hand washing, and stay home if you are feeling ill.