By Jon Tatting
Editor, Isanti County News

Last week about 120 volunteers in 60 cars, acting as victims or potential victims of ìa pretty bad bug,î participated in an emergency preparedness drill - a first of its kind in Minnesota.

The East Central Sub-region Public Health Emergency Preparedness Drill, coined ìOperation Wayside Dispense,î tested the stateís first drive-thru method as a way of dispensing medication to populations in Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs and Pine counties, as well as the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

ìItís an education plan for our public health people,î said drill spokesman Larry Southerland of Isanti County.

The drill, held Aug. 9 at the Isanti County Fairgrounds, enabled the sub-region public health departments to collaborate efforts toward seeing how many citizens can receive distributed medications within a set time-frame.

The drill began at 10 a.m. and concluded just after 11 a.m.

Under the scenario, volunteer patients and their family members, affected by what officials called ìa pretty bad bug,î drove through a simulated wayside rest stop to pick up their mock medication.

Various kinds of candy represented two different types of medication in pill form, while juice boxes served as liquid medication for children or those who canít swallow pills, said Lisa Darling, health educator for Isanti County Public Health.

With a real-time public health emergency, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that all members of the population need to receive preventative treatment in 48 hours.

The approximate five county population is 150,000; this is the same as treating about 2,000 people every hour with preventative attention.

ìWe know our five county public health departments do not have enough staff to fulfill the requirements set by the CDC,î Southerland said. ìWith this in mind, we hope to be able to determine the numbers of volunteers we will need to subsidize these efforts to meet the CDC requirements.î

Each volunteer was asked to complete a medical history form for themselves and others they are responsible for.

Based on the completed form, the volunteers were directed to one of three lanes - depending on their condition, such as being pregnant or currently taking a medication that could counteract the medication meant for the drill.

Under two scenarios, volunteer patients Scott Fredell and his family of Elk River said they were instructed to say Mom was breast feeding, they had a baby under 6 months of age and had an assortment of medical allergies.

ìIt went well,î said Scott Fredell. ìItís nice to see different counties come out and help out, to see different personnel. Interagency cooperation is important.î

The drill was needed practice for both the public and professionals, such as nurses, to prepare for an actual emergency, said Lois Fredell and children Dan, 15, and 13-year-old Rose.