There was a time in this country when a gasoline crisis of a different kind had great impact on a community. In the early 1900s, gas wasn't in short supply and it was far from $4 a gallon. But no one could buy any because all of the gas stations were closed because the people running them were sick - along with many others in the community.

There was a time when governing bodies in Kansas were passing ordinances outlawing handshaking.

There was a time when germs literally took over.

It was 1918 and a great pandemic was sweeping not only across America, but also around the world. Before it was over, as many as 100 million people worldwide were dead.

Could that time be coming again?

For the past few months, I've joined other members of the Henry County medical community in mapping out plans to combat a pandemic. A few months ago, you may have read an article on this subject by Dr. Lynn Bowers. I'm pleased to offer this second article on a topic that is not pleasant to talk about, but very necessary.

For me, history is a fascinating subject - not because of what it tells us about the past, but for how it can help us in the future. I believe we can learn a lot about the great pandemic of 1918-19.

Many of us would have difficulty understanding what Americans went through then. In our generation, I'm not sure we've experienced anything like this.

This Henry County Hospital effort began at the request of the Hospital Board of Trustees. All of the current board members are businessmen, and they had all read an article about the impact of a pandemic and how in these circumstances, you could expect one-third of your staff to not show up for work.

Needless to say, that caught everyone's attention.

Pandemics seem to happen in 30-year cycles. Pandemics occurred three times in the last century - 1918-19; 1957-58; and 1968-69. Many scientists believe it's just a matter of time before it happens again.

We live in such a small world - one even smaller today than it was when the last pandemic hit. Travel from one side of the globe to the other is not unusual. Even in Henry County, we have industries which market their products overseas.

A pandemic would have tremendous economic impact on a community, and not only on those who become ill. Those who dodge the germs and don't get sick might not be able to get to work because they wouldn't be able to get gasoline. Everything would be affected - from the availability of food and supplies to the cancellation of school and church services to even a disruption of funerals.

An award-winning book entitled The Great Influenza - The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History describes in vividly painful detail the struggles early 20th century Americans dealt with when the pandemic struck. John M. Barry's book has become a curriculum of sorts for my colleagues and me in this community as we team up with Henry County's best to plan for the worst.

Teresa Thacker, RN Henry County Hospital's Infection Control Coordinator, joined Dr. Lynn Bowers along with HCH Safety Director Chuck Butler in attending emergency preparedness meetings on pandemic flu on three occasions last year. Others have attended more meetings this year.

Our goal, if disaster strikes, is to achieve an "ordered chaos." Barry's book has helped us develop and plan for various scenarios. We continue meeting with Henry County officials from a wide spectrum of professions to help us in this planning.

We have a tremendous advantage over the people of that earlier time. It's called the Internet.

We have the capacity to know what's going on in emergency rooms all over the country. All they had was telegraph or letter. If people start seeing a pattern of illness and if it spreads quickly, it will be known quickly.

But we will face the same kinds of human emotions that have made pandemics of the past so painstakingly difficult. Family members will likely be separated and quarantined, perhaps for long periods of time. The quality of healthcare people have gotten used to will be compromised by the sheer volume of those who are ill. People are going to be upset, even combative, on behalf of their loved ones.  

So we hope you'll join us in this pandemic preparedness journey. Just by reading this article you're helping us. If you haven't already, we encourage you to read Dr. Bowers' opening article in this series about hand washing - a simple act that could be a powerful deterrent to the challenges ahead.

Flu of any kind is what we call a "communicable" disease - that is, it can spread. But we intend to spread something faster than the germs - communication. In his book, Barry points out that in 1918, the "lies of officials and the press" prevented the terror from becoming concrete. "The public could trust nothing, so they knew nothing," Barry said.

The biggest lesson for us - and the reason we're teaming with local media now - is that information and trust is as important as any medicine we have.