How do hospitals prepare for a possible pandemic?

An avian flu pandemic could prompt from 839,000 to nearly ten million hospitalizations, a government report estimates. The report suggests that hospitals should start to plan now for a pandemic--including defining which patients to turn away if there are too many sick people for the hospital to handle.

Two doctors from Minnesota outline possible criteria for allocating respiratory equipment in the American Emergency Medicine Journal.

The government also expects that working in hospitals during a pandemic will be psychologically taxing for employees. The Dept of Health and Human Services suggests that psychological support services be institutionalized for those working in the healthcare industry during a pandemic. Find more information here.