SUZANNE ROOK, Managing Editor
Posted: Friday, May 1, 2009 9:50 pm

NORTHFIELD — As Minnesotans wonder whether the state has its second case of swine flu, local organizations are rolling out their emergency preparedness plans.

Northfield Hospital officials this week assembled a team to stay abreast of information and alerts from the Minnesota Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and both Rice and Dakota counties.

The hospital, said Chief Operations Officer Mary Crow, has a supply of masks and disposable suits should they deal with patients with respiratory issues. It’s not stockpiling medicines, Crow said, but Friday officials were checking on the local availability of anti-virals.

Crow said the hospital is working with both colleges to test staff or students who have recently traveled to Mexico for the virus, now known as 2009 H1N1.



The Northfield School District on Wednesday sent notes to parents and district staff listing simple measures that help keep disease from spreading.

Northfield Hospital reactivated its Cover Your Cough campaign, has advised staff who are ill to remain at home and has plans in place to ensure ill and well patients at its clinics are segregated should the virus be identified locally.

Both the hospital and district are updating their Web sites with information about the virus as it becomes available.

— Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113.