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YourHub.com \\ Santa Clarita Valley \\ Stories \\ Health \\ General

Drive-thru flu shot clinic planned for Nov. 7

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Contributed by: Stephanie Corral on 9/29/2008

The city of Santa Clarita, the L.A. Department of Public Health and College of the Canyons, along with the L.A. County Sheriff and Fire departments, will be conducting a drive-through, flu shot clinic on Friday, Nov. 7.

This is the third consecutive year for this activity, which features the dispensing of flu shots without people generally having to leave the comfort of their cars.

The flu-shot production line will be conducted in the College of the Canyons parking lots adjacent to Valencia Boulevard, with shots being dispensed from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or as long as the serum lasts.

Flu shots are often provided to the public in anticipation of an active flu season but the event also serves a secondary purpose. This exercise will also test the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) response during a bioterrorism attack.

The purpose of the CRI plan is to treat an impacted, mass population with medications within a short time period. Under the plan, the drive thru clinic is called a rapid point of dispensing or POD. College of the Canyons is a designated POD site for the bioterrorism plan.

"Over the past two years, we have been able to train dozens of volunteers and staff members regarding the safe and efficient dispensing of medicine on a large scale," said Santa Clarita Mayor Bob Kellar. We have refined our logistics, our delivery systems and have improved dramatically in our communications capabilities, which is the main point of this activity."

"There are always things to learn and always ways to improve our procedures," said Dr. Michael Wilding, assistant superintendent/vice president of the college as well as the POD manager for the second straight year.

"The college is conveniently located and has the parking lot layout to easily handle a large volume of cars in a real emergency," said Wilding, "and with nursing students gaining valuable experience by dispensing the shots, the college brings a number of important elements to the table.

"The planning and implementing of the clinic fosters cooperation and communication between agencies that otherwise don't often work together, who need to be able to coordinate their response in the event of a national emergency," Wilding added.

In the event of a large outbreak of disease or a regional terrorist attack, many sites similar to this one in Santa Clarita would be needed to serve the needs of California communities.

According to public health officials, the 2006 and 2007 flu clinics were two of the best in all of California. More than 120 volunteers from the participating agencies helped coordinate last year's event.

More than 1,000 residents participated and received free shots during a three-hour period in 2007, compared to 800 in 2006.

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