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Smooth-running clinic delivers 1,700 vaccines
(by Sali McSherry - December 02, 2009)
Smooth-running clinic delivers 1,700 vaccines
By SALI McSHERRY
It was smooth sailing at the H1N1 vaccine clinic held Nov. 21 at Orange High School.
With about 3,000 doses of the vaccine available, some 1,700 people who qualified to receive it were vaccinated, according to Patty Melaragno, of the Pepper Pike Fire Department, who helped coordinate the effort.
Fire Chief Thomas Hartman said he was overcome with the "great response of volunteers in the eight communities" comprising the point-of-dispensing group named by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
They were hoping for 125 volunteers and were awed by the 200 who showed up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday, Ms. Melaragno said, including Moreland Hills Mayor Susan C. Renda and Orange Mayor Kathy U. Mulcahy.
Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce H. Akers, who was there for the duration, said, Mr. Hartman and Ms. Melaragno "did a phenomenal job of organizing, particularly given the short notice. It was very well done and encouraging." They learned a lot, he said. "If and when we have to do this again, we'll be ready to do it."
During each of the first two hours of clinic that was open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., about 600 people were vaccinated, Ms. Melaragno said. The line had dwindled down by the third hour, she said.
County board of health employees were on hand to help lead the effort, Mr. Hartman said.
In addition, over 40 members of Pepper Pike's municipal emergency response corps helped lead other volunteers, Ms. Melaragno said. They were very helpful and professional, she said, and there was something for everyone to do.
Other volunteers arrived from Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls Township, Chagrin Falls Village, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Orange, Pepper Pike and Woodmere.
Mr. Hartman said they trained with volunteers for about an hour and gave vaccinations to some of the volunteers in a pre-run before the big event.
The planning on the part of the schools and fire and police departments "gave us the advantage," Orange School District Business Manager Phillip Dickinson said. Through a genuine collaboration, they sat down, had meetings, walked through the buildings and mapped the plan out, he said. They decided to use the high school partly due to parking, traffic safety and more indoor space, which gave them the ability to run the line of waiting people through the school instead of having them wait outside in the elements, he said.
Mr. Hartman, who walked through the line of people waiting, said they were upbeat and positive. The longest anyone waited was around 40 minutes, he said. Pepper Pike has been flooded with phone calls and e-mails praising efforts of all the volunteers from the participating communities, he said.
Mr. Dickinson's leadership was instrumental, and he had a calming influence, Ms. Melaragno said. She also credited Dale Tykeski, of the school maintenance department, for his help.
Pepper Pike's emergency response team of volunteers, who met with Orange PTA members earlier this week, will help with an H1N1 vaccine clinic for students on Dec. 8. The vaccine will be available to students who live in the district and have their parents' written permission. Students who have permission to receive the vaccine and attend University School, the Lillian and Betty Ratner School and Gross Schechter Day School will be bused in, Mr. Dickinson said. Children who live in the Orange School District but attend schools outside of it also may attend the clinic with parental permission, he said.
For more information, call Orange schools at (216) 831-8600.
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