Worst Case Scenario Planning 1
Worst Case Scenario Planning 1 :
A major reason why most current plans (which continue to evolve) are useless is that they assume the worst case scenario. Worst case scenario planning encourages counterproductive overreactions in which law-enforcement techniques and drastic anti-civil liberties measures are used as the first resort, rather than the last resort. Although it is widely recognized that there were three flu pandemics in the past century (1918, 1957, and 1968), and that another pandemic seems inevitable at some point, all plans assume the worst case, i.e., that the model to plan for is 1918, and not the more recent and less catastrophic pandemics of 1957 and 1968. This means there is little or no planning for measures to help the population in lesser and more frequent, emergencies. (ACLU, Pandemic Prep., 2008, 19)
