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Clinic doubles as pandemic rehearsal
By Kathy Aney
The East Oregonian
Motorists driving along Frazer or Emigrant avenues near 14th Street Wednesday couldn't miss eye-popping fluorescent pink signs that advised of a training exercise ahead.
Further along, other signage invited them to stop at Hawthorne School for free flu shots and, nearby, the same message in Spanish - Gratis vacunas de gripe - aqui hoy.
The exercise was a disaster simulation cleverly disguised as a flu clinic. During the day-long exercise, county public health and emergency workers, hospital personnel and law enforcement agencies honed their ability to handle a large-scale disaster like a flu pandemic and vaccinated all comers.
Around 600 people took advantage of the free flu shots. Other exercises are scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday in Hermiston at Thompson Hall and Tuesday in Milton-Freewater in the Community Building.
"The purpose of the exercise is to test our ability to vaccinate a large number of people in a short period of time," said Genni Lehnert, administrator of the Umatilla County Health Department. "We want to know how quickly we can vaccinate all the residents of Umatilla County."
This mass dispensing exercise is designed to give health officials a rough idea of challenges involved.
A group of about 30 was already waiting on the sidewalk when the exercise got underway in the school's gym. Inside the makeshift clinic, each person cruised through a series of stations and emerged a short time later, freshly injected with flu vaccine and carrying a cardboard box, labeled "Home Emergency Medical Starter Kit."
People with limited mobility had their vaccinations done curbside.
A contingent of workers help healthy people navigate a well-orchestrated maze of stations, sending them first to a table to fill out an information form, then to a screening table, before heading to the injection area.
Jamie Pourier, a nurse, greeted people at the screening table in a warm voice.
"Have you had a flu shot in the past?" she asked Barbara Houtz, of Port Angeles, Wash. "Any reaction? You're not allergic to eggs? Or running a temperature?"
Houtz shook her head to all four questions and was guided to the injection area. There, Megan Carrow, an Oregon Health and Science University nursing student, rubbed Houtz' arm with alcohol, placed a small bandage on the skin and poked a needle through the plastic and into the skin, before injecting the vaccine.
Houtz, who said she gets a flu shot every year, looked relieved it was over.
Lehnert had a smile on her face. The volume of business was brisk enough to test the system and, so far, the system was handling the load.
"There was a good flow, starting at 8 - we had folks lined up," she said. "It took four to eight minutes to get through - during the deepest rush, it took no more than 10."
The system was by no means perfect, though, said Lehnert. Tweaking and reconfiguring the traffic flow were the order of the day.
"It's a big process," Lehnert said. "What looks really good on paper isn't always the most functional in reality."
One might ask how possible a pandemic really is and is such an uncertain threat worth all the effort. Lehnert has a quick answer for that.
"We've had pandemic influenza in the past," she said. "If you read what some of the great scholars are saying, it's inevitable."
By Kathy Aney
The East Oregonian
Motorists driving along Frazer or Emigrant avenues near 14th Street Wednesday couldn't miss eye-popping fluorescent pink signs that advised of a training exercise ahead.
Further along, other signage invited them to stop at Hawthorne School for free flu shots and, nearby, the same message in Spanish - Gratis vacunas de gripe - aqui hoy.
The exercise was a disaster simulation cleverly disguised as a flu clinic. During the day-long exercise, county public health and emergency workers, hospital personnel and law enforcement agencies honed their ability to handle a large-scale disaster like a flu pandemic and vaccinated all comers.
Around 600 people took advantage of the free flu shots. Other exercises are scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday in Hermiston at Thompson Hall and Tuesday in Milton-Freewater in the Community Building.
"The purpose of the exercise is to test our ability to vaccinate a large number of people in a short period of time," said Genni Lehnert, administrator of the Umatilla County Health Department. "We want to know how quickly we can vaccinate all the residents of Umatilla County."
This mass dispensing exercise is designed to give health officials a rough idea of challenges involved.
A group of about 30 was already waiting on the sidewalk when the exercise got underway in the school's gym. Inside the makeshift clinic, each person cruised through a series of stations and emerged a short time later, freshly injected with flu vaccine and carrying a cardboard box, labeled "Home Emergency Medical Starter Kit."
People with limited mobility had their vaccinations done curbside.
A contingent of workers help healthy people navigate a well-orchestrated maze of stations, sending them first to a table to fill out an information form, then to a screening table, before heading to the injection area.
Jamie Pourier, a nurse, greeted people at the screening table in a warm voice.
"Have you had a flu shot in the past?" she asked Barbara Houtz, of Port Angeles, Wash. "Any reaction? You're not allergic to eggs? Or running a temperature?"
Houtz shook her head to all four questions and was guided to the injection area. There, Megan Carrow, an Oregon Health and Science University nursing student, rubbed Houtz' arm with alcohol, placed a small bandage on the skin and poked a needle through the plastic and into the skin, before injecting the vaccine.
Houtz, who said she gets a flu shot every year, looked relieved it was over.
Lehnert had a smile on her face. The volume of business was brisk enough to test the system and, so far, the system was handling the load.
"There was a good flow, starting at 8 - we had folks lined up," she said. "It took four to eight minutes to get through - during the deepest rush, it took no more than 10."
The system was by no means perfect, though, said Lehnert. Tweaking and reconfiguring the traffic flow were the order of the day.
"It's a big process," Lehnert said. "What looks really good on paper isn't always the most functional in reality."
One might ask how possible a pandemic really is and is such an uncertain threat worth all the effort. Lehnert has a quick answer for that.
"We've had pandemic influenza in the past," she said. "If you read what some of the great scholars are saying, it's inevitable."
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