SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Officials at Stanton Territorial Hospital are taking no chances in preparing for the much-feared second bout of H1N1 swine flu virus many think will hit this fall.

The Stanton Territorial Health Authority recently sent out a request for proposals (RFP) for a pandemic development plan, with the aims of bringing current emergency plans to a "much more detailed level," said Kay Lewis, CEO of Stanton.

Lewis said the new pandemic plan will be designed to work with current emergency and pandemic plans and will also incorporate new knowledge of the H1N1 virus. A pandemic occurs when a virus spreads widely, crossing borders and over continents.

"I don't want to give you the impression we haven't been doing planning all along, but this is really just now taking it to a higher level of detail to make sure that we're appropriately using all the information that we have to be prepared," she said.

Lewis added the plan is a "proactive measure" and while no one can guarantee when, or if, the H1N1 virus will make a second wave this fall, the hospital is doing all it can to "ensure that we are using the current information to be as ready as possible in the event that we have to use (the plan)."

The plan will act as Stanton's on-site direction for a possible pandemic, particularly H1N1, and will link with other organizations' plans, such as the territorial government's 2005 plan entitled "Pandemic Influenza Contingency."

That plan was developed several years ago in anticipation of a coming flu pandemic. The NWT's then-chief medical officer, Andre Corriveau, said the report outlines the steps the medical community must follow if there is an outbreak of the flu pandemic in the North and also includes details on stockpiling anti-viral medication.

At the time Corriveau said, "We have 23,000 doses of Tamiflu, and we plan to triple that."

Tamiflu is prescribed at the onset stages of the flu to lessen the severity or as a preventative measure and has been used for the current outbreak of H1N1.

The GNWT's contingency plan can be found, in full, on the health and social services website.

Lewis said she could not go into certain specific details, such as target doses, or what Stanton is looking for in the newest pandemic plan because the RFP has not yet been awarded, meaning the plan is still in the early stages.

She did say, however, that the pandemic plan, when completed, will cover everything from how to co-ordinate with other health authorities in the communities, to how to handle mass vaccinations and surge capacity at the hospital.

"We're all working together on this ... there's details even into the drugs we order to have stockpiles, the additional equipment and supplies we need and how we utilize staff," she added.

While cases of H1N1 in Nunavut have risen close to 500 since the outbreak began, cases in the NWT, and Yellowknife, have not reached anywhere near such high numbers - and a good plan could keep it that way.

"We're not seeing really significant numbers (of H1N1 patients) particularly admitted at this point in time but one needs to be prepared," said Lewis.

As of Aug. 7, there were 29 lab-confirmed cases of H1N1 in the NWT, including two hospitalizations.