The following link will open up the PDF version of the latest Pandemic Influenza Plan issued by the White House yesterday. Do not expect, however, that this document in any way addresses the challenges of mass fatalities on a national basis. I did a quick electronic search of the document and did not find a single reference to the word "funeral", not even in the context of "funeral director".
We should anticipate very limited awareness and/or preparedness by government planners to deal with a dramatic rise in the number of deaths. Should the worst case scenario play itself out, morgue facilities and health departments will find themselves under-staffed (as people stay away from work) and overwhelmed in terms of volume. Evaluate your own community but in my area these facilities struggle along under the best of circumstances. We also need to recognize that with 40% of the workforce out of commission for one reason or another, we may not have anyone to answer the phone and dig graves at the local cemetery. What alternatives need consideration at the local governmental level in order to maintain dignity and operational capacity in trouble times?
Faced head on and documented ahead of time, local paperwork and disposition plans can get the attention they need. It will require focus and creative thinking in order to get it done AND the awareness that NO ONE at the top of government has given funerals (or caskets or death certificates or burial permits or mass graves or anything of the sort) a second thought.
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