Volunteers Wanted In Case of Public Health Emergency

By Renay Seifried

Kiowa County Nursing Service is in need of volunteers. Are you willing and able? In the event of a Public Health Emergency, Kiowa County Nursing Service’s staff is not sufficient to provide service to the county. With approximately 1,500 residents we would exhaust our resources in a short amount of time, not withstanding trying our best to service the residents of our County. Since we have taken the responsibility of protecting our residents, we have the responsibility in providing you with as much information we can for you to protect yourselves and families.

Kiowa County Nursing Service has written a Mass Vaccination Emergency Plan for our county. In order for us to test the Mass Vaccination Emergency Plan, we have partnered with neighboring counties to test our plans in a Multi-County Exercise that will be evaluated by both state and local entities. This will happen in October, and we will be providing more information regarding this date through radio and newspaper advertisement.

What I am writing today is the need for our Agency to gather as many volunteers as we can to help us accomplish our roles during this time. Not just for the exercise but for other situations that we may need volunteers to work for the good of the public. What type of volunteers do we need? There are two types that we will be needing: Medical and non-medical.

Medical Volunteers may be asked to do the following:

1. Contact triage

2. Medical Screeners

3. Vaccinators/ able to give shots [licensed]

4. EMT

5. Vaccine Preparation [Pharmacy / aide]

Non- Medical:

1. Greeters/ Forms Distribution

2. Video Presentation

3. Forms Completion

4. Vaccinator Support

5. Exit Reviewer

6. Medical Records

7. Logistical Support

8. Security

9. Traffic Flow

10. Spanish Language Translators

11. Float Staff.

KCNS will maintain the volunteer database and update this accordingly. We want as many volunteers on our list, much more than is actually needed. We will establish a system of main group of volunteers depending on your availability. You may choose to be in the reserve but be willing to work for as much or less time as you want. We are asking you to partner with KCNS so that if the unthinkable does happen [Bio-terrorism event or a Pandemic Influenza] we will be able to respond effectively to protect ourselves, our families and our communities.

If you want to volunteer please fill in the form in this newspaper and turn it in to Kiowa County Nursing Service P.O. Box 414 Eads, CO 81036 or drop by our office and meet your partners. Thank You.