While the initial panic about the spread of swine flu is over, a pandemic once 'flu season' starts is still a risk. This week's Browser looks at free elearning courses to help organisations prepare for any future flu pandemic.
Elearning company Skillsoft is providing free access to its course on pandemic flu as well as two other courses directly related to disaster preparedness for emergency planning.
The Pandemic Flu Awareness course is designed to provide information that can be used to form the basis of a preparedness plan to manage and minimise potential impact on day-to-day business operations. The course is designed for managers who have responsibility for creating these plans, but it contains information that is useful to all employees, such as:
- The key differences between a pandemic flu and normal seasonal flu
- Key facts associated with pandemic flu
- Guidance on types of medication and other practical measures that can be taken to prevent or slow the spread of pandemic flu
- Tips for creating your own personal pandemic preparedness plan
Visitors will receive free access for 30 days to the pandemic flu course and two others designed to help in formulating disaster recovery, emergency management and business continuity plans. The courses cover how to identify risks and vulnerabilities for your company, guidelines for stabilising and restoring infrastructure, how to protect the health and safety of your employees, crisis communication procedures and how to write a business continuity plan.
"Accurate information is essential to planning an appropriate organisational response," said Kevin Young, SkillSoft general manager EMEA. "Our customers are coming to us with questions, and we felt that offering these courses for free would be the fastest way to get the information out to all managers who are responsible for creating emergency plans for their companies."
The courses can be accessed at www.skillsoft.com/online/preparedness
