"Pandemic preparedness must involve all types and sizes of businesses. Moreover, it demands a shift in business continuity planning from one that anticipates a short-term, near-normal condition, to one that prepares for extreme long-term, catastrophic contingencies. In the event of a pandemic, the private sector must cope to sustain the nation's essential security, as well as its economic and social stability. To do this, the private sector must maintain production of essential goods and services while mitigating the pandemic impact on operations. COP-E planning assumes pandemic-specific impacts and encourages business contingency planners to identify truly essential functions, people, and materials within and across critical sectors. COP-E also proposes alternative methods tailored to each pandemic phase from preparation to recovery. Essential functions: Functions that are absolutely necessary to keep a business operating during an influenza pandemic, and critical to survival and recovery". (DHS, Pandemic Influenza CIKR Guide, 2006, p. 20; see: also pp. 29-)