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For Release Wednesday, 9-14-2005
Contact: Karen
Sell,
Olympia
Host Lions, 867-0260
Lion
Volunteers
Boost
County
Emergency Readiness
Olympia Host Lions and the
Thurston County Health Department have teamed up to provide a new model of
emergency readiness for this area.
Thurston County Department of
Public Health and Social Services has been working for months on a readiness
plan for public health emergencies and now has enlisted the help of local
Lions to put their plan into action.
“We know that that natural
disasters or a large disease outbreak is a real possibility and we intend to
be as prepared as humanly possible.
That preparation includes being ready to vaccinate or dispense
medications to thousands of people in a really short period of time,”
Thurston County Health Officer Diana Yu reports.
According to Yu, the county has
a well-established medical corps they can call on in an emergency, but
didn’t know how they were going to support those nurses and doctors so they
could work efficiently.
To provide those support
services, the county turned to the Olympia Host Lions Club.
The Lions will now provide volunteers for emergency call-up to handle
parking, give directions, assist with paperwork and help people get the
information they need.
“We are feeling our way as to
what is needed and how we can best help, but we are glad to be a part of our
county readiness team,” Olympia Host Lions president Carl Corbin notes.
According to Corbin, the Lions are a natural for this kind of work
because they have a strong communication link to their members and are already
skilled at working together.
“One
of the Lions’ strengths is our ability to respond quickly to community
needs. Working with the county
will give us a great opportunity to demonstrate the Lions motto “We
Serve,” Corbin says.
Olympia Host Lions have already
begun expanding the pool of volunteers to include all of the eleven Lions
Clubs in
Thurston
County
. Lions from clubs in Yelm, Lacey,
and
Olympia
were invited to take part in back to school vaccination clinics in
Olympia
and Yelm recently in order to get initial training in clinic operations.
Clinics to provide
“back-to-school” vaccinations were held in Yelm and
Olympia
, with the help from Lions volunteers. In
the past such clinics were run with three to four staff, just enough to give
the necessary shots. This year’s clinics were staffed at a higher level,
pulling in staff and Lions volunteers that would not have been involved
normally.
“We took advantage of the
back to school clinics to show a greater number of staff and the volunteers
how a large clinic might be set up,” said Sammy Berg, an Emergency
Preparedness Planner for the department. “The stations, procedures, and
training used this time would be the same for an emergency. Whether giving
shots, providing antibiotics, or even handing out $2000 debit cards to
evacuees, the steps and people needed to move very large numbers of people
through the process are very similar. Large numbers of volunteers will be
needed and they will have to come from the community if the clinic is going to
happen in a timely manner.”
The Lions say they are up to
the challenge with nearly 1.4 million members in 194 countries.
Lions are the largest service club in the world.
For information on how you can be a part of this Lions Club effort,
contact Olympia Host Lions at 867-0260 or 357-7085.
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