Pres Obama declares H1N1 national emergency to speed treatment if necessary
WASHINGTON (CBS)
President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.
Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the strain of flu known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
According to CDC's Flu.gov Web site, 14,070,900 doses of the H1N1 vaccine have been allocated across the country to project areas, or states, as of Oct. 21 this year.
The CDC says that doses allocated to project areas for ordering are those that are at the distribution centers in each state and ready for these project areas to order. The vaccine is allocated to each state in proportion to its population, says the Web site.
Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development. * Slideshow: H1N1 Claims Victims Across U.S. * CBS News Interactive: Swine Flu * CDC Swine Flu Facts Sheet * CDC Emergency Updates Via Twitter * Swine Flu Twitter Live Search Results * David Burnia's Swine Flu Watch On Twitter * Google Map Of Suspected, Confirmed Cases
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius now has authority to bypass federal rules when opening alternative care sites, such as offsite hospital centers at schools or community centers if hospitals seek permission.
Some hospitals have opened drive-thrus and drive-up tent clinics to screen and treat swine flu patients. The idea is to keep infectious people out of regular emergency rooms and away from other sick patients.
Hospitals could modify patient rules — for example, requiring them to give less information during a hectic time — to quicken access to treatment, with government approval, under the declaration.
It also addresses a financial question for hospitals — reimbursement for treating people at sites not typically approved. For instance, federal rules do not allow hospitals to put up treatment tents more than 250 yards away from the doors; if the tents are 300 yards or more away, typically federal dollars won't go to pay for treatment.
Administration officials said those rules might not make sense while fighting the swine flu, especially if the best piece of pavement is in the middle of a parking lot and some medical centers already are putting in place parts of their emergency plans.
"I think the term emergency declaration sounds more dramatic than it really is," said Dr. Peter Hotez, a research professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University. "It's largely an administrative move that's more preemptive ..." He said such a step would give emergency rooms and hospitals the flexibility they need.
The national emergency declaration was the second of two steps needed to give Sebelius extraordinary powers during a crisis.
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