LIHU‘E — About 500 volunteers are needed to help the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office with an exercise testing its emergency preparedness mass medication dispensing plan also known as the Strategic National Stockpile, a DOH news release
LIHU‘E — About 500 volunteers are needed to help the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office with an exercise testing its emergency preparedness mass medication dispensing plan also known as the Strategic National Stockpile, a DOH news release announced Tuesday.
The exercise scenario will test Kaua‘i’s plan to distribute medicines and supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile in response to a public health emergency, the release says. Volunteers will participate in a mock walk-thru clinic from 9 a.m. to noon, Sept. 15, at Hanapepe Armory.
Interested volunteers can register online at tinyurl.com/kauaisns or show up at the Hanapepe Armory by 9 a.m. The first 500 volunteers will receive lunch.
“Our goal is to simulate how the Health Department would respond if there was a public health emergency on Kaua‘i,” said Toni Torres, public health nursing supervisor at the Kaua‘i District Health Office. “We are asking for 500 volunteers to come to our clinic, fill out forms, get evaluated for medication, and receive simulated bottles of medication to test our Kaua‘i District Health Office Strategic National Stockpile Operational Plans.”
The Strategic National Stockpile is a program organized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The stockpile consists of a cache of medicine and medical supplies stored in 13 secret locations around the country available for distribution in the event of a bioterrorism attack, or other health emergency, and can be delivered within 12 hours of an approved request. Hawai‘i is required by CDC and the Department of Homeland Security to develop and test its plans to receive and distribute SNS.
The DOH partners with the Kaua‘i Civil Defense, Kaua‘i Police and Fire departments, local hospitals, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Kaua‘i Medical Reserve Corps, the 93rd Civil Support Team, the Hawai‘i National Guard and the U.S. Marshalls Office.
“It’s important to hold these drills so the various agencies can practice working together to be better prepared in the event of a real disaster, man made or otherwise,” said Dr. Dileep G. Bal, Kaua‘i district health officer. “Practice makes perfect.” The exercise will be reviewed by outside evaluators, including experts in the field of mass dispensing operations.
Results will be used to revise emergency preparedness plans, as necessary.
“Our continuing goal is to improve our island’s capability to prevent and respond to a bioterrorism event,” Torres said. “This exercise gives us the opportunity to show the public what we’re doing to prepare and how we plan to keep the people of Kaua‘i safe.”
For more information, contact Michael Robless, public health emergency preparedness health educator, at 241-3555 at the Kaua‘i District Health Office.
