It Begins with a Plan: Exercising and evaluating regional emergency mass prophylaxis plans

In December 2006, the Arlington Public Health Department (Arlington, Massachusetts) participated in the third annual regional flu clinic / Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS), full scale exercise. As the agency responsible of planning, local health officials from Arlington served in the roles of Planning Section Chief and planning support staff. Local health officials from four neighboring jurisdictions (i.e., Belmont, Brookline, Newton, and Watertown), filled command and general command staff positions. Together, the five local health departments planned and operated a clinic that provided influenza and pneumococcal vaccine to 600+ clients in two hours while exercising and evaluating several critical tasks and capabilities.

Planning section responsibilities required coordination with the logistics and operations sections to ensure appropriate clerical and clinical supplies were provided, particularly adequate amounts of vaccine for the diverse population to be served. The section also developed clinic flow and traffic flow plans, and included an evaluator who was involved in clinic planning from the beginning. Challenges included communication among command staff regarding shared responsibilities and working within ICS.