OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. –
The campaign to vaccinate active-duty members for this year's influenza season got an extra shot in the arm late last month when the 55th Medical Group organized a point of dispensing event at the community center here.
Between the POD and the immunizations clinic, more than 1,000 people received their immunizations from Offutt medics in one day, raising the 55th Wing's influenza compliance rate from 47 percent to 69 percent.
In January of this year, the medical group performed a successful POD for the H1N1 influenza strain, coordinating transportation of patients through an extensive logistics plan using a fleet of buses. October's plan called for the use of shared rides and carpooling, allowing commanders and supervisors the flexibility to disperse their Airmen throughout the day and minimize mission impact.
Support from wing leadership was critical, said James Jenkins, 55th MDG medical readiness manager, and allowed medics to demonstrate their ability to smoothly execute mass dispensing.
"We were very happy with the overall throughput," Mr. Jenkins said. "The average door-to-door time from check-in to immunization was five minutes and the parking lot was never even close to capacity. We were so successful this year, we hope to make this a regular fall event."
The POD accomplished the real-world requirement for active-duty vaccinations and allowed medics to screen people for other readiness requirements.
"We checked the individual medical readiness status on every patient, allowing us to identify other shortfalls such as laboratory studies, dental examinations or overdue preventive health assessments." said Tech. Sgt. Annerose Ream, a member of the public health clinic.
The POD also validated the current disease containment plan.
"I was very impressed with what Team Offutt accomplished," said Lt. Col. Kevin Bohnsack, 55th MDG chief of aerospace medicine and the wing's public health emergency officer. "From the willing patients to the administrative support staff to the actual vaccinators, this event demonstrated our ability to respond to a disease outbreak and quickly mitigate its effect on our manpower and mission."
The 55th MDG is now vaccinating all active-duty and family members 6 months old and above. The current compliance rate for active-duty members is approximately 85 percent. The goal is 90 percent by Dec. 1 and 100 percent by January. (Courtesy of the 55th Medical Group)