NewsYour Health Matters

Actions

In epidemic or pandemic, how well would drive-thru medicine dispensing work?

Drill at Loveland High School aims to find out
Posted at 8:22 AM, Jan 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-27 10:02:40-05

LOVELAND, Ohio -- If there were a major health emergency in the Tri-State, first responders want to be sure they could get life-saving medication to everyone -- and fast.

A drill Saturday morning will test how well they can do that.

Loveland-Symmes firefighters set up a "POD," or point of dispensing, at Loveland High School.

Eight different municipalities and agencies are taking part in Saturday's drill. They want to see how they'd handle traffic flow, how quickly they can dispense medicine and how they might fix bottlenecks.

"So Hamilton County Public Health has tested some of their PODs in the past. They are walk through PODs that they've tested. So, our unique drive-thru design is the first time that they will be able to test that method and see how it works and see some of the problems. Or, advantages to using this type of POD site," said Capt. Bruce Hawk, of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department.

The public can help test the process, which goes from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Loveland High School, 1 Tiger Trail, Loveland, Ohio. First responders won't give out any actual medication or vaccines, but they will ask a few questions and hand out candy.