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Avian Flu Outbreak and Vaccination Drill

A Good Idea

Description

The Yolo County Avian Flu Disease Investigation Drill was the first disease outbreak exercise in the nation to 1) address a communicable form of Avian Flu, cited by CDC and WHO as one of the greatest potential communicable disease risk to the world population , 2) coordinate a full-scale field exercise to train health care personnel in epidemiologic investigation and implementation of control measures for responding to a large number of "patients" ill or exposed to Avian Flu and 3) coordinate this effort with epidemiologists involving twelve county jurisdictions, state public health agencies and local universities.

Goal / Mission

The purpose of the exercise was to train health and emergency medical personnel in planning for and responding to large scale disease outbreaks. The most proven method to assure an effective response to a real event is to practice a well-coordinated multi-agency field exercise.

Results / Accomplishments

Because of the broad scope of the whole exercise, the drill brought together over 500 people including representatives from local health department agencies, county mental health services, the Red Cross, DMAT, EMS, volunteer physicians and nurses, volunteer college students and community members. The high media visibility of the event also served the purpose of educating the public about the public health response to a disease outbreak and possible mass prophylaxis.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Yolo County Health Department
Primary Contact
Myrna Epstein, Supervisor, Epidemiology & Public Health Emergency
(530) 666-8645
myrna.epstein@yolocounty.org
http://www.yolohealth.org/
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Community / Social Environment
Organization(s)
Yolo County Health Department
Source
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
Date of publication
2005
Date of implementation
2004
Location
Yolo County, CA
For more details
https://eweb.naccho.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?site...
Additional Audience
Public Health Workers

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  3. Influenza Vaccination Program
  4. CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Interventions to Promote Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations among Healthcare Workers
  5. CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Interventions to Promote Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations among Non-Healthcare Workers
  6. IMMUNITY Campaign

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A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.