City of York Council's emergency planning team holding talks over swine flu (From York Press)

City of York Council's emergency planning team holding talks over swine flu

8:28am Monday 27th July 2009 in Swine flu By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

Dr Peter Brambleby, Director of Public Health at NHS North Yorkshire and York

EMERGENCY planners are liaising with crematoria and cemeteries across York and North Yorkshire to prepare for the possibility of large numbers of deaths from swine flu.

City of York Council said today its emergency planning team already had plans in place for dealing with deaths on a large scale, due for example to a serious accident or a pandemic illness.

“The team is updating these plans and has also been liaising with faith groups, crematoria and cemeteries across North Yorkshire,” said a spokeswoman.

She said the team was working on its preparations with the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which involves emergency services, local authorities and various public agencies who work together to deal with emergencies across the county.

Asked whether York Crematorium was making specific preparations for swine flu, she said it had a “business continuity plan” to deal with larger than usual numbers of deaths.

Meanwhile, a York health chief has told how he hopes a new national pandemic flu service will free up GPs, enabling them to deal with other illnesses that need urgent attention.

Dr Peter Brambleby, Director of Public Health at NHS North Yorkshire and York, said people with suspected swine flu or their “flu friends” must not go directly to pharmacists to ask for antivirals such as Tamiflu, as they could not be handed over without an authorisation number issued by the new service.

“Those who are diagnosed will be given an authorisation number that a ‘flu friend’ – a healthy friend or relative who does not have swine flu or flu-like symptoms – can use to pick up antivirals from a local antiviral collection point. “NHS North Yorkshire and York currently has more than 30 antiviral collection points up and running across the He said people with chronic lung, kidney or heart disease, children aged under five and people aged over 65 were particularly at risk.

If they show swine flu symptons, the flu service hotline should be contacted straight away.

Pregnant women and parents with children under one years old should phone their GP as soon as possible at the first sign of symptoms.

“It is important to remember that for the majority of people swine flu remains a relatively mild illness,” he said.

* To contact the National Pandemic Flu Service, phone 0800 1513 100 or visit: www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu