With flu season arriving, Dr. James O’Neil of Clarkston Medical Group is recommending all people get a flu shot.
‘It prevents you from getting the flu, which can be very incapacitating,? he said. ‘You should get one every year, especially people over 60 that have asthma, heart disease, or any chronic illness.?
O’Neil said the science of matching different strains of flu for vaccines has gotten a lot better, which is prepared a year in advance
‘I think the largest problem with flu is, not just the flu itself, but it weakens you and then you get secondary infections like pneumonia and other illnesses, or you get dehydrated.?
The flu shot is available at most doctors? offices, some drug stores, and the county. O’Neil said people can get flu shots as late as Jan.
On Saturday Oct. 27, the Oakland County Health Division had its fifth annual mass flu exercise.
This exercise is a test run in case an emergency outbreak happened and large amounts of people had to be vaccinated quickly. There is no pre-set up of equipment; all is done that day just as it would during an emergency.
In a five-hour period the health division vaccinated 12,096 people, beating last years 9,500 people. The shots were held at seven locations including Clarkston, Hazel Park, Lake Orion, Rochester, Southfield, Walled Lake, and Waterford.
‘These are what we call dispensing sites,? said George Miller, manager/health officer of Oakland County Health Division. ‘If there were a real emergency and there was medication available or a vaccination available, we would open up and roll out these dispensing sites for the general public.?
Miller said the Summit Place Mall was very instrumental in helping them this year, as well as the Southfield Pavilion and schools around the area.
‘We’ve done a lot of collaboration to make sure we can roll these various sites out,? he said.
‘And we have more than seven, but when it comes to vaccinations we’re limited to the number of staff members we have here in the health division and that is probably the furthest we can go.?
Miller said they are always looking for ways to improve.
‘We keep evaluating what went well the year before and what we can do better,? he said. ‘As a result of those meetings with staff, they come up with great new ideas for the flow of traffic in the clinics themselves.?
Miller said they did a lot more pre-registering this year through the health division’s website, which made things quicker and doubled the amount of people pre-registered.
‘That allows us when they’re coming in to just have to scan their receipt and they move through the line very quickly because they don’t have to do any payment,? he said.
These excercises help them know what supplies, and how much to do the job efficiently. Miller said they have actually decreased the amount of supplies they need, which has made set up easier.