Photo Credit PHIL
# 6422
During a severe influenza pandemic some health departments have developed plans to conduct drive-thru vaccination clinics in order to speed up the dispensing of vaccines and to prevent the cross-exposure of people queuing up for the shots.
While studies have shown the advantages of conducting drive-through vaccination clinics (see The Efficiencies Of Mass Vaccination Clinics) there have been nagging concerns over the slight possibility that a vaccine recipient might experience a syncopal event (fainting) after driving away.
We’ve a study today, recently published in the Journal of Emergency Management, that finds the odds of a driver fainting post-vaccination to be extraordinarily low.
In fact, they liken it to being less than the odds of being struck by lightning.
First a link to the study, then some excerpts from the press release.
Drive-thru influenza immunization: Fifteen years of experience
Ruth M. Carrico, PhD, RN, FSHEA, CIC; W. Paul McKinney, MD, FACP; Nicholas Adam Watson, JD; Timothy Wiemken, PhD, MPH, CIC; John Myers, PhD, MSPH
May/June 2012; pages 228-232
Abstract
Background: In 1995, a yearly drive-thru immunization program was initiated in Louisville, KY. Since then, more than 50,000 doses of influenza vaccine have been administered, with no reports of syncopal episodes or vehicular accidents.
The press release, from the University of Louisville is excerpted below:
University of Louisville study dispels concerns about drive-thru flu clinics
Critics have pointed to fainting risks and subsequent auto accidents as reasons for concern when using drive-thru influenza immunization clinics, according to Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, FSHEA, CIC, associate professor, division of infectious diseases, University of Louisville School of Medicine.
A review conducted by Carrico and UofL faculty W. Paul McKinney, MD, FACP, Timothy Wiemkan, PhD, MPH, CIC and John Myers, PhD, MSPH found these fears to be unfounded. Since the beginning of an annual drive-thru immunization program initiated 1995 at the University of Louisville Hospital, more than 50,000 doses of the influenza vaccine have been administered, with no reports of fainting episodes or related auto accidents. The study, Drive-thru influenza immunization: Fifteen years of experience published recently in the Journal of Emergency Management.
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This summer, Carrico plans to release a toolkit about how communities can develop drive-thru immunization clinics. It will include information on how to organize a clinic, how to train and orient staff, how to set-up the clinic and how to evaluate the success. The toolkit will point to experiences and lessons learned from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and will be available through the UofL Center for Health Hazards Preparedness website: www.publichealthtools.com
