How Much Did This Cost Us?

From the "You have to be friggin' kidding me!" file (aka the Monroe Co. website) -


Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks announced the County has launched efforts to educate, inform and prepare the public for a potential outbreak of Pandemic Flu. The outreach plan includes a new Pandemic Flu page on the County website as well as an educational brochure that will be made available at all Monroe County Wegmans pharmacies.

“Monroe County has been working aggressively with our partners at the local,
state and federal levels to develop plans, and be prepared in the event of an
outbreak,”said County Executive Maggie Brooks. “An informed public is critical
to the success of this plan, and I am grateful to Wegmans for their partnership
in this effort.”

“Planning for business continuation in the event of an
emergency is part of doing business at Wegmans. We fully understand that our
customers depend on us for food and medicine in times when other services may be
disrupted.” said Jo Natale from Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. “We’re pleased that
we can help by acting as a distribution point for these brochures. We have been
impressed with the efforts at the county level in every state, but we are
especially proud of Monroe County, because their collaborative process is one of
the best we have experienced.”

County Executive Brooks established the PIC Team six months ago to develop plans assuring that all segments of our community are reached with information should we ever face a large scale emergency like Pandemic Flu. The PIC Team is comprised of communications professionals from groups including: our local hospitals and medical community, the business community, local government, schools and colleges, public safety, and various community agencies.
-end-

Here's what the braintrust came up with to protect our community:
· Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. If you don’t have a tissue, cough into the crook of your arm or sleeve so you don’t get germs on your hands and spread them to others.
· Wash your hands often and thoroughly with soap and water. Use hand gels with alcohol if washing with soap and water is not possible.
· Try to stay at least three feet from people who are coughing or sneezing.
· Stay home from work or school if sick with respiratory symptoms.
· Keep a supply of non-perishable food, bottled water, and necessary medications to minimize trips to stores during an outbreak. Have a first-aid kit and a battery operated radio on-hand.
Stay attentive and informed. Don’t wait until pandemic flu has arrived to start learning and making plans.


This release officially confirms that everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten. Of what benefit is this to the community? I'm sure the Wegmans family appreciates the free advertising from the County but this appears to be nothing more than the political exploitation of a trendy issue and another excuse for an always classy, photo "pat myself on the back for doing nothing" opportunity for Maggie Brooks.

The website which the release refers to consists of nothing more than a photo of Maggie and a categorized list of links which all redirect to the same website, pandemicflu.gov, a third party site.

Thank you Maggie, we feel so much safer.