A Message from the Program Chairs for the Canadian Flu Guide

As Co-Chairs of the Canadian Flu Guide, we believe that this accredited CHE program will be of great importance through the coming fall and winter, particularly for our Family Physician colleagues. As Family Physicians are the backbone of the Canadian healthcare system, it will be Family Physicians who will be on the front-lines of the influenza season should this occur. However in pandemic planning there is often not enough consideration given to your crucial role in managing the potentially many patients who will call and visit your office. The protection of you and your staff must also be given full consideration.

Along with the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee, we have developed a very ‘down-to-earth’ web site, providing current recommendations (with regular updates planned), that are relevant to the day-to-day needs of Family Physicians and other primary healthcare providers, as well as some practical information for developing and implementing your own pandemic strategy. One of the key concepts that is repeated throughout this resource and that we encourage you to incorporate into your daily practice is that of the ‘ICCCE’ principle – Intelligence; Communication; Control; Coordination; Elimination of the Threat.

We would like to thank our colleagues on the Scientific Advisory Committee for their time and input into the development of this program.

Sincerely,

Karl Weiss, MD, MSc, FRCPC Professor of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Université de Montréal Co-Chair, Montreal Regional Infection Control Board Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Montréal, Québec

Alan Kaplan, MD, CCFP(EM), FCFP Clinical Lecturer University of Toronto Chairperson, Family Physician Airways Group of Canada Brampton Civic Hospital, Brampton Richmond Hill, Ontario

To view the Disclosures of Potential Conflicts of Interest for Dr. Weiss and Dr. Kaplan,
please click here.