Elsewhere in Columbiana County
First H1N1 clinic said good start
By MATTHEW SCHOMER Staff Writer
LISBON — The county’s first clinic for H1N1 virus inoculations was a good start, and health officials say it should prepare them for more clinics to come.
The first clinic took place from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday in the building behind Trinity Friends Church on U.S. Route 30.
Bob Zehentbauer, public health emergency preparedness coordinator for the county Health Department, said he did not have exact numbers on how many people showed up to be inoculated and did not want to make an estimation, though he said there was a steady flow of people coming through the doors throughout the day. However, he said the clinic Thursday was a good learning experience for nurses and other health officials.
“This was a great opportunity for everyone,” he said.
The department set the event up as a full clinic able to serve between 1,000 and 2,000 people, he explained, with roped-off areas, parking security and ambulance services. While the department did not keep the full clinic atmosphere set up for the entire six hours, he said, everything was set up exactly as it would be at a major clinic.
“It was, in one way, the ideal situation, because we gave everybody a run-through of what our clinics will be like,” he said.
Zehentbauer sent invitations for school district superintendents and school nurses from across the county to attend the clinic and see what it would be like, though he noted the clinics scheduled to be held at schools across the county should be a lot easier to manage because all the paperwork already will be laid out for students before they come in.
“They are prepared and we will have decisions from them very quickly,” he said.
The high-risk groups for contracting the virus are children and pregnant women, and while the wails of several children rang through the building throughout the day, before and during the shots, he noted most of the crying stopped as soon as each needle was removed from the children’s arms.
Zehentbauer said that was a testament to the medical and people skills of the nurses working alongside the health department at the clinic.
mschomer@mojonews.com
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