Thursday, October 02, 2008
Pike County Health Department To Provide Free Flu Shots At Pike Central
Pike County Health Department Provides Free Flu Clinic
Practice makes perfect. That is the goal of the Pike County Health Department’s Preparedness Program, and that is why the health department is holding a free flu clinic on October 3, 2008 from 10-12 at Pike Central High School. In the event of a public health emergency, like release of anthrax or a pandemic of influenza, it would be the responsibility of the Pike County Health Department to provide medications or vaccinations to the citizens of Pike County. Since 2003, health departments across KY have been provided funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to develop plans for any type of public health emergency, and funding to train staff to respond to them. We have three goals for the Free Flu clinic: The first to practice our emergency response plans, the second to see how many people we can provide treatment to in 1 hour, and the third is provide free flu vaccinations to our community.
Public Health is usually not viewed as a 1st responder like Police, EMT’s, and Fire Fighters, but Public Health has been a silent 1st responder for many years. In 1918 the Spanish flu swept around the world and Public Health was the 1st responders used to provide care and treatment for people suffering from that tragic illness. In 2001 Public Health was one of the lead agencies used to provide care to the victims of the postal anthrax attacks, as well as partner with law enforcement in the forensic investigations. This is the reason the health department staff will be practicing setting up a mobile clinic, and delivering vaccinations on October 3rd. In the event of another flu pandemic we would be required to provide mass flu vaccinations when the vaccine is available. To do this we have set up drive thru or walk thru clinics at all the county high schools. We chose to test our Drive thru plan because we know that it would be more comfortable for our community members. They can have their vehicle at the temperature they like, listen to the music they choose, and wait in the comfort of their vehicle’s seating. All they will need to do is pull up their sleeve.
Because the flu causes 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually, we thought this would be the perfect time practice our skills and let our community benefit from it.
Practice makes perfect. That is the goal of the Pike County Health Department’s Preparedness Program, and that is why the health department is holding a free flu clinic on October 3, 2008 from 10-12 at Pike Central High School. In the event of a public health emergency, like release of anthrax or a pandemic of influenza, it would be the responsibility of the Pike County Health Department to provide medications or vaccinations to the citizens of Pike County. Since 2003, health departments across KY have been provided funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to develop plans for any type of public health emergency, and funding to train staff to respond to them. We have three goals for the Free Flu clinic: The first to practice our emergency response plans, the second to see how many people we can provide treatment to in 1 hour, and the third is provide free flu vaccinations to our community.
Public Health is usually not viewed as a 1st responder like Police, EMT’s, and Fire Fighters, but Public Health has been a silent 1st responder for many years. In 1918 the Spanish flu swept around the world and Public Health was the 1st responders used to provide care and treatment for people suffering from that tragic illness. In 2001 Public Health was one of the lead agencies used to provide care to the victims of the postal anthrax attacks, as well as partner with law enforcement in the forensic investigations. This is the reason the health department staff will be practicing setting up a mobile clinic, and delivering vaccinations on October 3rd. In the event of another flu pandemic we would be required to provide mass flu vaccinations when the vaccine is available. To do this we have set up drive thru or walk thru clinics at all the county high schools. We chose to test our Drive thru plan because we know that it would be more comfortable for our community members. They can have their vehicle at the temperature they like, listen to the music they choose, and wait in the comfort of their vehicle’s seating. All they will need to do is pull up their sleeve.
Because the flu causes 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually, we thought this would be the perfect time practice our skills and let our community benefit from it.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 4:38 PM 
