Health department holds Medication Dispensing Drill
It is a little known fact that McHenry County Department of Health has a plan for dispensing preventive medication to those needing it in an emergency. On March 5 that plan was practiced.
The United Way made its facility in McHenry available to the department on the morning of the drill, which served as a test of the health department's ability to execute the plan and as a learning workshop for Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and partner agencies.
The purpose of this medication dispensing drill was to familiarize Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and health department staff with plan specifics, such as when the plan would be implemented, activation procedures and the nuts and bolts of working at a point of dispensing clinic.
The scenario used on March 5 was that of an anthrax outbreak. But the health department plan is flexible and scalable, meaning that the plan would be used in any situation requiring that emergency preventive medication be dispensed.
One hundred thirty-nine mock "patients" were processed through the clinic in under two hours. The drill also included just-in-time training and shift changes.
The Dispensing Drill and Workshop utilized department staff, volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps and Emergency Management, representatives from "closed" point of dispensing clinic and fire department personnel.
In a public health emergency, McHenry County Department of Health would receive preventive medication (if needed) from the Strategic National Stockpile. It is a large repository of medicine and medical supplies designed to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency such as a terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake, etc., severe enough to cause local medications and supplies to run out.
Once federal, state and local authorities agree that the Strategic National Stockpile is needed, medicines will be delivered to any state in the U.S. Each state has plans to receive and distribute Strategic National Stockpile medicine and medical supplies to local communities as quickly as possible.
The Strategic National Stockpile is a federally funded program, coordinated at the national level by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services. At the local and state levels, the Strategic National Stockpile is managed by public health departments.