• All
• Police and Fire
• Business
• Education
• Obituaries
• Opinions
• Lifestyle
• Calendar

• All
• Celebrations
• Columnists
• Health
• Religion
• Seniors

A large scale flu prevention clinic was launched Saturday at the North Attleborough High School, but it was not your ordinary clinic.
This clinic was held in conjunction with the surrounding towns of Attleboro, Foxborough, Mansfield, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth and Seekonk through their own public health departments and the Bristol-Norfolk Medical Reserve Corps that supports the 8-town group. All the towns participated with vaccine, volunteers and residents needing vaccines. Vaccines were administered free of charge to any Massachusetts resident 6-months of age and up.
This particular clinic was unusual in that it not only intended to provide flu shots to the public as the annual flu season approaches, but also to test North Attleborough's preparedness for a much larger scale public health emergency as well.
With the help of 106 volunteers, 26 of which were North Attleborough High School students, more than 1,100 visitors from 9 am to 11 am were vaccinated.
"There were 353 people here [for the flu vaccine] at quarter to nine," said Bonnie Heile,  Media Specialist, and flu clinic volunteer.
Despite the large number that arrived for the vaccination, the flu clinic was organized, and visitors faced a wait no longer than a few minutes.
"This was the finest emergency services I've seen managed in thirty years," said North Attleborough Fire Chief Peter Lamb.
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health have been working with communities like North Attleboro across the Commonwealth to develop functional, community-based, Emergency Dispensing Sites (EDS) able to administer vaccines or dispense needed antibiotics to entire community populations within 72 hours if necessary.
 North Attleborough developed its Emergency Dispensing Site plan to become part of a local, regional or national response to infectious disease outbreaks of any magnitude.
Such incidents can range from a single case of hepatitis A in a food handler to multiple cases of meningitis in a school to an influenza pandemic.  Saturday's flu clinic is intended to help the area's public health professionals better understand how well prepared they are to provide similar medical services in a public health emergency of any size.
Saturday's exercise included specific plans to handle children with their parents, the handicapped, infirm or those with special needs, healthy 18 to 64 year-olds and seniors 65 and over.
Participating towns provided enough vaccine for 1,000 flu shots, and the Bristol-Norfolk Medical Reserve Corps has been training citizen volunteers of all walks of life and expertise to assist the public through the dispensing site quickly, courteously, and with the greatest of care.
For additional information on the flu or flu prevention efforts, or to find a flu clinic elsewhere in Massachusetts, citizens should visit the MDPH website at www.mass.gov/dph or call 866 627-7968.