Nov 3, 2009
It’s All About Semantics
President Obama recently declared the country to be in a national State of Emergency, a move typically reserved for natural disasters. New York Governor Patterson and New York City Mayor Bloomberg made similar declarations. Both decisions had to do with expanding available health care sites and professionals to deal with patient care and vaccinations. But how many people heard, much less understood, that part?
My problem is semantics. The President uses the “E” word (emergency) while Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius simultaneously says the swine flu continues to be “very mild” for most people. What’s a parent to do? They have to decide whether or not their child should be vaccinated because the government sends out an emergency message, their family doctor advises the opposite, and their pediatrician says something altogether different. It’s like asking people if they believe in UFOs – everybody agrees UFOs are a definite maybe.
Make no mistake, I am not downplaying the fatal impact of the swine flu at all. But I am suggesting to be careful about the choice of words. Instead of declaring emergencies, in which this country just seems to be in one perpetual state, how about announcing an Advisory of Temporary Health Care Waivers or an Alert for Additional Vaccine Resources? Wouldn’t that better identify the purpose of the declarations?
What do you think?
Look at how the media is throwing around the word pandemic. Now look up the definition. Really is a lot less scary, huh? It is easy to panic the general public when they don't know their spelling words.
Good point! For those who don’t know offhand the definition of pandemic (including myself), it’s this: Pandemic – an epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world epidemic – a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time
Pandemics sell. I just did a search on Amazon and found 24 books on the swine flu, numerous mask configurations, even a couple that were specific "swine flu" masks (not sure how they are different, other than price.) There are 2 swine flu practical joke t-shirts and even a swine flu preparedness kit. Like yourself, I am not downplaying the seriousness of this flu strain. Likewise, we should not downplay the seriousness of the "regular" seasonal flu, which kills around 35,000 annually in the U.S. alone. Besides, "pandemic" is much scarier than "epidemic."
You’re right – the scarier the words, the more viewers/readers the media get. In regard to media coverage, I can’t decide if this is an issue of irresponsibility or ignorance. I’m just waiting for the day when news anchors start wearing face masks on the air. As always, thanks for commenting.
As a mom, I'm just about at my wit's end. Just like you-know-whats, everybody has an opinion, including the medical people. I'm getting my children the H1N1 vaccine, supposed to go back in two weeks for another shot. My husband and I also are getting the same vaccine just in case we get sick. I'm just not thrilled with the lack of testing and longterm effects of this vaccine. I wish I could get a straight answer.
While I’m not a parent, I feel your confusion. Sounds like you are a great parent wanting only the best for your children. I wish you the best. Thanks for commenting.
One of my pet peeves is sensationalism by news organizations or other communicators. On the one hand, we hear about the deaths from H1N1, on the other, we hear that most cases are mild. What's the real story? I question whether the motive is public information or news ratings.
As far as President Obama's declaration of a national State of Emergency, I'd agree that we do have a crisis situation on our hands, but he and his band of merry men are playing a large part in that.
Considering your good points, maybe that post should have been entitled “It’s All About Sensationalism”. And everyone knows that November is sweeps month. Thanks for commenting!