The Yolo County Health Department, UC Davis and others are teaming to conduct a mock flu vaccination on campus June 10.
The health department will set up a mock clinic in The Pavilion (formerly Recreation Hall) to test its ability to respond to an event that would require medical screening and vaccination of large numbers of people.
Meanwhile, the campus's Emergency Management Group will conduct a related exercise in its Emergency Operations Center.
Those near The Pavilion on the afternoon of the exercise may see volunteers donning masks and members of the UC Davis Police Department providing security for the clinic. About 300 UC Davis students, community members and representatives of organizations involved in the exercise have been recruited to play the role of patients.
UC Davis will activate its campus emergency operations center starting at 11 a.m.; volunteers for the drill will begin gathering at The Pavilion at 12:30 p.m. and the health department will operate its clinic from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Cheryl Boney, deputy director of public health programs for the county, said the local government has chief responsibility for mass vaccinations and must rehearse its response plan, which includes controlling the spread of a disease outbreak.
She emphasizes that drill "patients" will receive only a pretend vaccination; no needles will be used.
Ev Profita, campus emergency manager, said hosting the drill in The Pavilion and conducting an emergency exercise at the same time will enhance UC Davis' preparedness for emergencies. "It's an opportunity to work more closely with our partners in emergency response and to test our own plan," she said.
The health department's drill will also include the transport of about five volunteers by ambulance and private vehicle to Sutter Davis Hospital, Woodland Healthcare and the Davis Community Clinic so those organizations can test their protocols for dealing with infectious diseases.
As part of the drill, a satellite link for patient consultations will be established between one of the medical-care facilities and an infectious-disease specialist at the UC Davis Medical Center.
Tom Nesbitt, associate dean for the School of Medicine and director of the Center for Health and Technology, said the center is exploring the use of portable satellite technology to expand the reach of its successful telemedicine program beyond the UC Davis Health System's existing land-based network, which currently uses ISDN (integrated services digital network) and dedicated T1 connections.
Jim Rodems, manager of The Pavilion and the ARC, said the vaccination drill should not interfere with the regular operation of the new recreation and conference facility.
For more information on the vaccination drill, contact (530) 666-8694. For more information on the UC Davis exercise, contact (530) 752-5386.