Disaster Recovery Journal - Summer 2001 Issue- From the Perspective of Ed Devlin

Recently I read an article entitled “Flooding Boosts The Demand For A Scarce Vaccine.”
The article, in the April 22, 2001 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, reported that:
“…along the flooded Mississippi River, tetanus vaccines were becoming worth their …weight in gold as swamped treatment plants poured millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river while thousands of volunteers sloshed around in the unhealthful waters. A national shortage of the vaccine had Red Cross officials in this town telling sandbaggers, firefighters and others likely to get wet to check with their family doctors - to see whether they had a few vials hidden away. During past floods, health officials had set up vaccination stations right where levee-builders were toiling in the brackish waters. They were trying to prevent the disease, commonly known as lockjaw, before it got started. But two of the three companies that were manufacturing the vaccine in the United States halted production earlier this year, health officials said. Supplies in many parts of the country are low.”
This item caught my attention and made me think back to the devastating flood that inundated a portion of Johnstown, PA in July 1977. I recall my studying this regional disaster to determine what lessons we, at Devlin Associates, could learn in order to improve our clients’ Disaster Recovery Plans.
The lesson was that all recovery team members were offered the opportunity to receive a tetanus vaccine shot. The floodwaters had been contaminated, and there was a potential that a recovery team member could contract tetanus. From that incident forward, tetanus shots became a standard statement included in our clients’ DR Plans.
I never thought about the possibility that there would be a shortage of the vaccine. Now we are faced with just such a “crisis.” I did some research to determine the cause for this shortage. An article entitled “Hospitals Feeling Pain Of Shortage In Tetanus Vaccine” in the Philadelphia Inquirer in February, 2001, reported:
“The tetanus shortage concerns only adult tetanus vaccine, not the children’s vaccine. But experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are watching closely to see whether the shortage spreads, and they are worrying about adult illnesses this spring, when vaccine demand rises along with a seasonal jump in injuries. Supplies already were tight because of production difficulties when Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories stunned hospitals last month by suddenly ceasing vaccine production, calling it ‘a business decision’.”
The article also mentioned that:
“Eye surgeons are stretching final supplies of Wydase, important in numbing eyes for cataract and other surgeries after Wyeth abruptly quit making it, too. Also in short supply is the powerful painkiller fentanyl, and Narcan, used to reverse morphine overdoses.” The tetanus vaccine, Wydase and fentanyl were produced at Wyeth’s plant in Marietta, Lancaster County, parts of which were shut down for much of last year after the FDA cited it for failing to meet manufacturing standards. Wyeth spokesman Douglas Petkus said the company decided not to resume production of the tetanus vaccine and Wydase when the plant reopened, but it is again making fentanyl and expects the shortage of that drug to be alleviated by the end of March. Petkus said the plant problems were not the reason the company stopped making the tetanus vaccine and Wydase, but he declined to elaborate. CDC officials praise the sole remaining tetanus-vaccine manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur, for working round the clock to produce more of the millions of doses needed annually. But each batch takes 11 months.
Further research on the Marietta, Lancaster County plant closure produced an article in the October 4, 2000 L.A. Times:
“Vaccine maker Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories agreed to pay a $30-million fine for repeatedly violating federal drug-quality rules at two of its East Coast manufacturing plants, including a flu-shot factory whose temporary closure contributed to this year’s delay in flu vaccine. A subsidiary of American Home Products, Wyeth-Ayerst signed the consent decree with the Food and Drug Administration, which also requires it to take specific steps to improve quality at the plants on a preset schedule or face up to $5 million more in fines. The FDA said it never found contaminated Wyeth products and is aware of no illnesses.”
What should we learn from this series of events? “Never Assume.” When we document our plans, we tend to assume that all resources identified in the plan will be available when we need them. But “what if” that’s not the case?
P.S. - Watch out for snakes! If you get bitten by a rattler or copperhead, you may have a problem. Another vaccine casualty is “snake bite serum.” On May 15, 2001 the Philadelphia newspaper reported:
“…the nation’s only large producer of snake-bite serum has run out of stock. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the pharmaceutical arm of American Home Products Corp., announced that due to high demand and manufacturing difficulties, the drug, Antivenin, would not be available until the end of June, and then only in limited amounts. Locally, the drug is used to treat bites from copperheads, found across Pennsylvania and in northern New Jersey; timber rattlesnakes, found throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, found in western Pennsylvania.” Wyeth-Ayerst, of St. Davids, Chester County, said it was notifying health-care providers nationwide of the drug’s shortage.
The good news is - a new serum was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. CroFab, distributed by Savage Laboratories, is used specifically to treat rattlesnake bites. Savage’s officials were notifying hospitals and poison-control centers of its availability.

Ed Devlin, CBCP, has provided business recovery planning consulting services since 1973 when he co-founded Devlin Associates. Since then, Mr. Devlin has assisted over 300 companies in the writing of their BRP’s and has made over 800 seminars and presentations worldwide.

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