Thanks to the participation of many local residents, the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment’s public health emergency preparedness exercise Nov. 17 was a ringing success. About 1,460 residents were screened and given free flu shots at four locations, all in less than three hours.The Health Department’s emergency preparedness exercise was designed to provide seasonal flu vaccine to residents in exchange for their participation in a hypothetical scenario: an influenza pandemic reaches El Paso County, and members of the community need to be vaccinated in a short period of time.To meet both needs, the Health Department established four PODs, points of dispensing, at area high schools to deliver the real, seasonal flu vaccine. In the process, the Health Department refined its skills and plans for many kinds of emergencies.The PODS were set up with cooperation from the school districts and were staffed with virtually all of the Health Department’s employees, as well as more than 100 community volunteers.Volunteers helping with the Health Department’s effort included individuals from four school districts, the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, The American Red Cross, El Paso County Medical Reserve Corps, Colorado Mounted Rangers, Colorado Springs and El Paso County offices of emergency management, Mental Health Responders in Crisis Intervention and Amateur Radio Emergency Services.The preliminary breakdown of shots provided at the PODs: Lewis-Palmer High School, 340; Sand Creek High School, 400; Harrison High School, 370; and Fountain-Fort Carson High School, 350.”We are so grateful to all of the people who came out today to receive their free flu shot and help the Health Department prepare for public health emergencies,” said Rosemary Bakes-Martin, public health administrator. “These folks will not only be more protected from the seasonal flu this year, but as a result of their efforts, our community will be better prepared for a public health emergency.”At all four sites, those interested in receiving the free flu shots outnumbered the doses available, Bakes-Martin said. “We wish we could have provided a free shot to everyone who came out today, but these vaccines were grant-funded, and there were only so many available,” she said. “Still, we appreciate everyone’s interest and we hope everyone in the community will get flu shots this season.”The doses of seasonal flu vaccine were provided by an emergency preparedness grant, not through local taxpayer dollars.The El Paso County exercise was part of a statewide effort that included 29 PODS and about 10,000 doses of flu vaccine.The Health Department held a smaller-scale exercise based on a similar premise in December 2006, providing flu vaccine to about 300 people at a single POD in a northeast Colorado Springs high school. This year’s exercise tested the Health Department’s systems and plans on a significantly larger scale than did last year’s exercise, Bakes-Martin said.For more information about flu shot providers in the community, visit www.elpasocountyhealth.org.
