BATTLE MOUNTAIN - There were 588 free flu vaccines administered at the Point of Dispense (POD) drill held Oct. 6 that was headed up by Battle Mountain's Community Health Nurse Office and the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).
The event ran from 8 a.m. to noon in the same format as last year with people not even having to get out of their cars.
There were 1,000 vaccines available which included shots and nasal mist. There were five shooters, including Community Health Nurse Brenda Keller, who also served as the medical director for the event. The shooters were the people administering the vaccinations.
"I think it went excellent," said Keller.
Reita Newgard, administrative assistant at the Community Health Nurse Office, who served as the operations sections chief for the event, added, "I thought it went quite well."
There were around 625 vehicles, said Keller. The number of vehicles was higher than the amount of the vaccines administered because some people were screened out and did not qualify for the vaccination, said Keller.
The senior center shuttled people from their homes to and from the Battle Mountain Civic Center where the health fair was going on. Keller said she saw two motorcyclists and two bicyclists get free flu vaccines.
The drill not only had free flu shots but also helped prepare the community in case of an emergency in which mass inoculations are needed, said Newgard.
Newgard said the event was important in order to prepare for a community disaster.
"I just think that in the case of an emergency, even though we are a small community, we need to be ready and prepared," she said. "You just never know what could happen."
Keller said that the event was successful in preparing different agencies for a disaster event. She said she feels the community is well prepared.
Keller said in 2009 and 2010 there were walk-thru flu clinics and last year and this year they did drive-thrus. She said the drive-thrus are more popular.
The event was being held in conjunction with the Battle Mountain General Hospital Health Fair which ran from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The agencies that were involved in the drill were Battle Mountain General Hospital, the Lander County Sheriff's Office, mine rescue teams from Barrick - Cortez and Goldcorp - Marigold, Lander County Ambulance, the Battle Mountain Fire Department, the Lander County School District, Road and Bridge North, Etcheverry Food Town, Midway Market, the Colt, the Senior Center, the Girl Scouts and Atlas Towing and Recovery.
Coffee and hot chocolate were served to the 40 volunteers.
The POD drill used the National Incident Management System (NIMS), an emergency response system used locally, statewide and nationally. NIMS training is offered by FEMA.
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