The Neon Nurse's Charting

OK, OK, we didn't actually shoot them all. Some we snuffed. But it was only because we all became POD people.

I am, of course, talking about the Points Of Dispersal exercise held in Colorado this weekend. Lamar was one of the chosen points. Our County Health Department and Nursing Service practiced a plan for handling a fast mass inoculation of the public by giving out free flu shots.

My friend and former nursing instructor asked if I would be a volunteer. They assigned me to be a Runner, which was kind of funny since even back when I was healthy, I never ran unless someone MADE me. Luckily, in this exercise my kind of Runner only needed to keep all the other workers in her area stocked up with stuff they needed. My team was at the starting point, so that meant I had to add blank forms to clipboards and walk up and down the sidewalk keeping the Passer-Outers (not their real title) supplied with clipboards and forms and pens.

It really went smoothly, especially when you consider that the top of the command chain is FEMA. The exercise was to go from 8:30 to 12 noon sharp, but there was already a line of cars waiting at the entrance to the fairgrounds at 7:45 when our team got there.

This was wholly a drive-through situation -- no pedestrians, no getting out of your car. It went like this: People would drive up to the first station, where we would give them a form for each individual who wanted a flu shot. Next, they were directed to the station where someone told the driver which line to get in. There were different ones depending on how many were in the car and whether there were children or not, because they staffed each lane differently, to keep everything moving quickly. Also, some kids got the nasal spray vaccine instead of the shot, so cars with kids were directed through lane 3 where they had that type on hand. After the vaccines were administered, people were sent to the observation area to wait (which is standard, to make sure no one has an allergic reaction).

So the drive-up experiment was a success. There was a long wait in line for the early birds, but once they got their forms, people were out in 20 minutes or less. Coming in cars DID use up gas, but on the other hand, people were not crowded into buildings to share germs, which would be a big concern in a real pandemic, and also no one had to stand in line for hours, as happened with the flu shot exercise our county participated in two years ago.

After we shut down at noon and put all the stuff away, we had what is called a "hotwash". You might think this was something fun to help us relax, like a communal shower or soak in a big hot tub. But sadly not. All we did was talk about our observations and make suggestions to improve the exercise. I went home dusty, sore, and with unfulfilled curiosity about the derivation of the term "hotwash". Does it ever come with a hotwax? Is there also a coldwash? No one ever tells me anything.

I didn't get around to posting about this until now because I was ZOSTED by the time we were done. I hadn't done any running, but I'd walked and stood up a LOT, and I FELT like I'd run 900 miles or so. I think maybe my FACE didn't hurt (except for my chapped lips) but the rest of the body was complaining so much, I didn't pay much attention to any quiet body parts. Happily, after staying in bed much of the day yesterday and then sleeping for 11 hours last night, I feel much better.

And we all got our shots for FREE, so YAY!