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Brigham Young University-Idaho will be the site of a mass
vaccination exercise on Saturday, Nov. 5. Community members ages
nine and older are encouraged to come to the Hinckley building
on the BYU-Idaho campus, where District Seven Health Department
staff will be administering 1,500 free flu shots from 10 a.m. to
1:30 p.m.
In response to the events of September 11, 2001, public health
departments across the nation were given the charge of
developing a comprehensive health preparedness plan in order to
be able to respond efficiently and effectively to any type of
public health emergency.
Locally, District Seven Health Department has developed a Public
Health Preparedness Plan. One specific section of the plan
focuses on setting up mass vaccination clinics in each of the
Health Department’s eight counties as needed. Saturday’s event
will allow the department to see how well this portion of the
plan works and to identify areas that may need improvement.
“This will give us an idea if the flow layout of the plan is
adequate. Our goal is to be able to vaccinate 440 people per
hour,” said Geri Rackow, District Seven Public Information Officer.
The plan is set up to handle various emergency health
situations, ranging from a natural influenza pandemic to an act
of terrorism and everything in between. “We’re very confident in
our preparation,” said Rackow. “Our plan covers several
different circumstances, from a measles outbreak all the way to
a worst-case scenario such as smallpox. By having people show up
to the vaccination exercise, we’ll be able to tell if the plan
is successful.”
The event will be organized as if the department were actually
responding to an emergency situation. Each person can plan on
being there for about 30 minutes, Rackow said. Participants will
watch a seven-minute video, fill out papers, see a medical
screener and then be on their way.
The exercise is being carried out in conjunction with Madison
County’s Local Emergency Planning Committee.
For more information about the Mass Vaccination Clinic visit
District Seven Health Department’s website at
www2.state.id.us/phd7 or call Geri Rackow at 522-0310. |