Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
By the end of the presentation participants will understand the tools and techniques utilized by the Louisiana Office of Public Health to administer mass vaccination clinics in large emergency shelter environments.


Background:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Baton Rouge became the largest city in the state as residents of New Orleans, and its surrounding areas, came north to escape the flooding. Many evacuees were housed at impromptu shelters across the city. This type of large scale cohabitation increases the risk of certain communicable diseases, requiring well-executed vaccination clinics to protect this population of people.


Setting:
The River Center in Baton Rouge, the largest shelter in the city.


Population:
Approximately 3,500 evacuees at River Center shelter.


Project Description:
Typical mass vaccination clinics involve the administration of a single vaccination for a known threat, like smallpox, anthrax, or influenza. Instead, River Center served as a large scale, full service immunization clinic. Patients were immunized for all vaccinations for which they were due or overdue, as opposed to those posing the largest public health threat to the shelter. The need to retrieve current immunization histories for patients became critical as most evacuees did not present with a valid immunization history. Only some shelters had Internet access to retrieve data from the state's web-based immunization registry. To respond to these issues, a technical solution was devised to eliminate dependence on the Internet to access data. This solution included the generation of a registry snapshot to be used on local networks used at the clinic.


Results/Lessons Learned:
In a single clinic, over 1,100 evacuees were seen and nearly 3,000 vaccinations were administered. Because of the flexible technical solution, clinics were able to verify the immunization status of patients and avoid unnecessary vaccinations. Operations were streamlined through automation without reliance on Internet accessibility, a capability not always available in temporary shelter settings.