In a mock emergency drill, Stratford officials worked with officials from the Trumbull-Monroe health district last week and dispensed medication for approximately 345 “patients” in less than two hours.
The exercise of the three towns working together to practice effective and efficient distribution of antibiotics to combat an anthrax exposure was held at Bunnell High School Wednesday, June 25.
Sixty volunteers acting as patients in an attack drove cars through one of four lanes set up by the emergency workers. The drill had cars pulling up a total of 117 times to the four dispensing stations, each of which was manned by a medical professional.
Drivers in the cars were allowed to take the antibiotic medication for others who were not present in the car, but only “patients” 18 years of age or older are allowed to pick up medication, according to Greta Broneill of the Stratford Health Department.
In an emergency, “there is no time to verify” if people are lying about how many people they aim to get medicine for, said Broneill.
The exercise did not meet its own goal, which was to dispense medication for 400 people in one hour, Broneill said.
The drill brought to officials’ attention the practical challenges with assessing which type of medication is most appropriate for various types of patients and making those decisions in a hurry, according to Broneill. She explained that emergency workers had three different types of anti-anthrax medication available, because some people have pre-existing conditions that make some medication more appropriate than others.
In addition to the medical assessment challenge there is the logistical challenge of efficiently directing the patients to the car line for the most appropriate medication, said Broneill.
Police, fire and EMS workers from the three towns were on hand for the drill. They were assisted by volunteer members of Citizen Emergency Response Teams (CERT).
Broneill said this was the first medication-dispensing drill conducted here and perhaps one of the first in the state.
One of the values of the mock emergency drill at Bunnell High School, shown here, was gaining experience getting cars lined up in the most appropriate lane.