Woodburn Independent Online

Residents flock to Woodburn Ambulance for flu mist

• By: Rachel Cavanaugh  
• Published: 11/20/2009 5:08:41 PM

Photo By: Rachel CavanaughFree flu mist
Rachel Jones, of Woodburn, receives the flu mist from Woodburn Ambulance paramedic Rose Durschmidt Nov. 18. Woodburn Ambulance hosted the free event and hopes to do another at a later date.

WOODBURN — Woodburn Ambulance Service (WAS) vaccinated 70 people against seasonal flu during a free clinic Wednesday evening.
 
The event, hosted by WAS and the Marion County Health Department, was the first of its kind this year in this region.
 
“It went very well,” said WAS owner Shawn Baird.
 
“It was obviously well-received.”
 
The ambulance company owner said they calculated it took under two minutes per person to do the vaccines, which were the nasal spray type.
 
The crew of eight was prepared for as many as 300, although Baird said the numbers turned out just right.
 
“There were enough people to stress us out a little bit but not so many as to be totally overwhelming,” he said.
 
Perhaps the most notable thing to come out of Wednesday’s vaccinations, Baird said, was a survey given at the end.
 
In it, he said 70 percent of participants answered that they wouldn’t have been vaccinated without the clinic.
 
“We feel pretty good that we hit a segment of the community that would have … in fact have gotten the flu, potentially seriously,” Baird said. “Even if not seriously ill, (they) would have missed some work or some school.”
 
He said they scheduled the clinic at 5 p.m. specifically so people who couldn’t afford to miss work could make it. They are hoping to hold another one in the coming weeks, he said.
 
The clinic vaccinated against regular seasonal flu, not the H1N1 virus. The latter vaccinations should be available to the general public after the first of the year, according to health officials.

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