Published: October 06, 2006 09:20 am      

Whiteside County Health Department to conduct emergency drill

STERLING, Ill. — The Whiteside County Health Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health will hold an emergency preparedness pandemic exercise on Oct. 14 to hone their skills in preparation for a potential disease pandemic.

Area agencies will participate in the drill to assess their ability to distribute vaccinations to a large group of people in a brief amount of time. The exercise is funded by a county bioterrorism grant.

Whiteside County Public Health Administrator Beth Fiorini said in the event of a flu pandemic, medications are dispensed from the regional office to all health departments and hospitals.

The drill scenario consists of the WCHD receiving notification from the Center for Disease Control of flu spreading in pandemic proportions. Residents will report to the Westwood Center in Sterling to receive preventative flu vaccinations.

The emergency exercise will take place at the Westwood sports complex on the north side of Sterling, 1900 Westwood Drive, off West Lefevre Road, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

All county residents are invited to participate, but exercise coordinators ask Sterling residents to come between 8 a.m. and noon, Rock Falls, Ill., residents from noon to 4 p.m. and all other Whiteside County residents from 4 to 8 p.m.

Flu shots will cost $20 and workers can assist with paperwork to file the shot under insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Volunteers from various agencies will be participating in the drill, including the American Red Cross, Whiteside County Health Department, Sterling/Rock Falls Clinic, Rock Falls Police Department, Morrison, Ill., hospital staff, Sauk Valley Bank staff members, the Illinois Department of Public Health and local emergency medical workers.