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More than 1,100 get free flu shots in public health training exercise
10/10/08
By Kevin Myrick, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer
.. ...Since the world?s population is now more mobile, there is an increased risk of pandemic spreading across the surface of the planet and taking thousands of lives. While public health officials haven?t yet figured out a bulletproof way to prevent such a widespread epidemic of infectious disease from going from B-movie plot to horrific reality, they have to train for such an event.
The Floyd County Public Health Department held a drill Thursday, and in the process distributed 1,120 free flu shots to those willing to line up between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Click here for more information about flu shots.
Tim Allee, who was acting as the public health?s public information officer for the training exercise, said that while they weren?t handing out a vaccine for an epidemic, the seasonal flu vaccine was an excellent stand-in for Thursday?s drill.
?This exercise gives our local health department the access to work with our local partners to provide max vaccination to the community,? he said. ?In the event of an emergency, this would be crucial to sustaining public health.?
In the first hour, public health officials were able to vaccinate 182 people, part of the overall success that pleased Floyd County Emergency Management Association director Scotty Hancock.
?We found that there were some issues that we need to work on,? he said. ?But overall we did well.?
The lines might have been one of those issues, and people like Margaret Sewell got her shot after a 45-minute wait.
She said that the service was ?pretty fast? considering the number on hand.
Hancock said he believes that in the event of a real pandemic, when Floyd County would have to rely more heavily on local personnel for public health and safety issues, that officials would be able to handle any problems.
?We could compete with what we did today with any of the metro counties in the state,? he said.
Allee said the goal was to get as many people as possible to show up to see if nurses, volunteers and fire and police officials could handle the crowds. He said it was important to demonstrate Greater Rome?s ability to handle such a crisis.
?We have to have the ability to provide vaccine,? Allee said. ?Our goal today is to give all the shots, and we can do that since we have an adequate amount of vaccine.?
Click here for more about Northwest Georgia Public Health.
More than 1,100 get free flu shots in public health training exercise
10/10/08
By Kevin Myrick, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer
.. ...Since the world?s population is now more mobile, there is an increased risk of pandemic spreading across the surface of the planet and taking thousands of lives. While public health officials haven?t yet figured out a bulletproof way to prevent such a widespread epidemic of infectious disease from going from B-movie plot to horrific reality, they have to train for such an event.
The Floyd County Public Health Department held a drill Thursday, and in the process distributed 1,120 free flu shots to those willing to line up between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Click here for more information about flu shots.
Tim Allee, who was acting as the public health?s public information officer for the training exercise, said that while they weren?t handing out a vaccine for an epidemic, the seasonal flu vaccine was an excellent stand-in for Thursday?s drill.
?This exercise gives our local health department the access to work with our local partners to provide max vaccination to the community,? he said. ?In the event of an emergency, this would be crucial to sustaining public health.?
In the first hour, public health officials were able to vaccinate 182 people, part of the overall success that pleased Floyd County Emergency Management Association director Scotty Hancock.
?We found that there were some issues that we need to work on,? he said. ?But overall we did well.?
The lines might have been one of those issues, and people like Margaret Sewell got her shot after a 45-minute wait.
She said that the service was ?pretty fast? considering the number on hand.
Hancock said he believes that in the event of a real pandemic, when Floyd County would have to rely more heavily on local personnel for public health and safety issues, that officials would be able to handle any problems.
?We could compete with what we did today with any of the metro counties in the state,? he said.
Allee said the goal was to get as many people as possible to show up to see if nurses, volunteers and fire and police officials could handle the crowds. He said it was important to demonstrate Greater Rome?s ability to handle such a crisis.
?We have to have the ability to provide vaccine,? Allee said. ?Our goal today is to give all the shots, and we can do that since we have an adequate amount of vaccine.?
Click here for more about Northwest Georgia Public Health.