RP's video: ARE YOU READY National Emergency

— Obama declares swine flu national emergency — WASHINGTON (October 24, 2009) — President Barack Obama signed a proclamation declaring swine flu a national emergency, the White House said Saturday. The order gives his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms off-site to speed treatment and protect non-infected patients. Administration officials said the declaration was a preemptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development. Health and Human Services chief Kathleen Sebelius now has authority to bypass federal rules when opening alternative care sites, such as off-site hospital centers at schools or community centers if hospitals seek permission. Some hospitals have opened drive-thrus and drive-up tent clinics to screen and treat swine flu patients. The idea is to keep infectious people out of regular emergency rooms and away from other sick patients. Hospitals could modify patient rules — for example, requiring them to give less information during a hectic time — to quicken access to treatment, with government approval, under the declaration. It also addresses a financial question for hospitals — reimbursement for treating people at sites not typically approved. For instance, federal rules do not allow hospitals to put up treatment tents more than 250 yards away from the doors; if the tents are 300 yards or more away, typically federal dollars won't go to pay for treatment. Administration officials said those rules might not make sense while fighting the swine flu, especially if the best piece of pavement is in the middle of a parking lot and some medical centers already are putting in place parts of their emergency plans. The national emergency declaration was the second of two steps needed to give Sebelius extraordinary powers during a crisis. On April 26, the administration declared swine flu a public health emergency, allowing the shipment of roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually needed them. At the time, there were 20 confirmed cases in the U.S. of people recovering easily. There was no vaccine against swine flu, but the CDC had taken the initial step necessary for producing one. "As a nation, we have prepared at all levels of government, and as individuals and communities, taking unprecedented steps to counter the emerging pandemic," Obama wrote in Saturday's declaration. He said the pandemic keeps evolving, the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many areas and there's a potential "to overburden health care resources." US President Barack Obama declares H1N1 swine flu national emergency declared outbreak pandemic virus influenza vaccines shots vaccinations thimerosal squalene mercury adjuvants autism seasonal flus CDC Centers Disease Control Prevention WHO World Health Organization FDA Food and Drug Administration Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius side effects symptoms hospitalization health care eugenics depopulation Desiree Jennings dystonia state of emergency martial law News & Politics October 2009 rickeypickles