This website is an evidence-based approach to realizing the four goals for efficient and effective pandemic response & recovery. Pandemics happen frequently. Right from the start one must state a pandemic is not merely a Public Health Emergency but rather a pandemic is a Public Emergency. There is a big difference.  This is because all areas of society are affected during a Public Emergency: public sector, private sector, not-for-profit, and all citizens.

In Canada, we have an Emergency Management Process normally used during a pandemic. Governments are required to have pre-written pandemic response plans and the aim of these plans is to allow our leaders to rapidly minimize the impact of any new pandemic on our society.

A Public Emergency requires a written plan to execute the four fundamental goals of any pandemic plan and then for the Emergency Management Agency to coordinate the execution of the plan to strive for the four goals:

• Controlling Impact of Contagion.

  Controlling the spread of contagion is a goal of emergency pandemic planning to reduce both illness (morbidity) and death (mortality) by providing appropriate prevention measures, care, and treatment.

• Mitigating Societal Disruption.

  To benefit all of society emergency management must mitigate societal disruption by ensuring there is continuity and recovery of critical services.

• Minimizing Adverse Economic Impact.

  A goal of emergency management is to minimize adverse economic impact.

• Using Resources Efficiently for Response & Recovery.

  A goal of emergency management is to support efficient and effective use of resources during response and recovery.

The Canadian response to COVID-19 has been incoherent, constantly changing, and without published written plans. For example, in Q1 2020 Canadians were told border closings could not happen and masks were not useful yet weeks later borders began to close and masks became mandatory. A written plan provided to each and every Canadian household would have created public confidence and helped Canadians actively participate in the community safety process.

Emergency Management requires the identification of each and every critical infrastructure pathway for society to continue functioning. For example, in April of 2020 many Canadians learned that 95% of Canada's beef and pork is processed through three abattoirs. This is a critical pathway to help ensure uninterrupted continuance of the nation's vital food supply. The risk was not in livestock farming or retail food distribution but exclusively at beef processing plants in the middle of the overall process. Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases struck an abattoir and the food supply was put at risk during a temporary plant shutdown. This is a prime example of why all pandemics are Public Emergencies and not merely Public Health Emergencies, the former impacts all aspects of society. All Canadian citizens, businesses, and Governments are partners in a properly executed Emergency Management Plan. Consequently, all critical infrastructure essential to the ongoing functioning of society must be identified and protected within a written pandemic plan and clearly communicated to the public to ensure ongoing confidence. All of these critical items may be conceptualized as industry silos functioning within society and during a pandemic it is absolutely vital that each silo has its own written procedures within the overall Emergency Management Plan to remain functional. Such silos must be coordinated by Emergency Management Experts (see Figure 1).  

Figure 1. Pandemics are Public Emergencies which impact ALL aspects of society. The mitigation of societal disruption requires the identification and protection of all parts of society through the use of a written and articulated Pandemic Emergency Management Plan.