NHC Lemoore effectively utilizes POD for mass vaccination effort at FRC West

Photo By Elaine Heirigs | Hospital corpsmen from Naval Health Clinic Lemoore assists during the point of dispensary (POD) exercise aboard Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Sailors from FRC West role played and acted as patients with health-related difficulties.  

LEMOORE, CA, UNITED STATES

12.22.2023

Story by Elaine Heirigs 

Naval Health Clinic Lemoore

LEMOORE, Calif. (Dec. 22, 2023) Teams from Naval Health Clinic Lemoore (NHCL) conducted medical countermeasures with a point of dispensary (POD) evolution in unison with this season’s influenza vaccine given to Sailors attached to the Flight Readiness Center (FRC) West aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore.

“These mass vaccination PODs are also known as a shot exercise (SHOTEX) and are avenues by which commanders can reach a higher level of readiness,” said Karl Kassner, medical emergency manager for NHCL. “Utilizing a POD for mass vaccination clinics allows NHCL to increase its area of responsibilities in medical readiness and therefore increasing deployment readiness of the warfighter.”

FRC West provides maintenance and repair services in support of the Navy’s mission to staff, train and equip combat-ready naval forces aboard NAS Lemoore and beyond.

“This SHOTEX model is more convenient for tenant commands because appointments are not required, wait times are minimal, and fewer errors are bound to occur due to the existence of dedicated vaccination clinic staff,” said Kassner.

This exercise was an example of coordinated efforts by the NHCL immunizations department, information technology (IT) department, the medical emergency manager, safety, security, preventive medicine and risk management teams, the operational health clinic (Hornet Health Clinic), and FRC West.

Sailors from FRC West roleplayed during this exercise. Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) 2nd Class Dawson Scott and Yeoman 3rd Class Ashley Madden played the part of patients with signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction. Some of their symptoms included bleeding from a minor injury that created a biohazard and required staff to perform infection control practices.

“This exercise gave our hospital corpsman training opportunities by providing a chance to hone their skills,” said Kassner. “Their efforts also helped test our clinic’s emergency action plan.”

The clinic’s immunizations PODs were created to optimize resources so that everything is prepackaged and ready to go, when needed. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website, PODs are centralized locations where people can pick up life sustaining commodities following a disaster or emergency; this can include shelf-stable food, water or vaccines.

“We demonstrated our ability of our mass vaccination team to deploy our SHOTEX POD,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class David J. Garcia. LPO Health Promotions & Wellness clinic. “This exercise really helped refresh our corpsmen skills.”

Naval Health Clinic Lemoore, co-located with Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Lemoore, ensures the readiness of its active-duty service members and improves the lives of military families through the delivery of high-quality healthcare to over 14,000 eligible beneficiaries at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California and NAS Fallon, Nevada. The command also provides dental care and medical administrative support to Navy, Marine Corps, and international students at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Defense Language Institute and the Center for Information Dominance in Monterey, California. The command’s mission is to advance the readiness and health of our warfighters and beneficiaries and invest in our people and partnerships.

• Date Taken: 12.22.2023
• Date Posted: 12.22.2023 14:18
• Story ID: 460691
• Location: LEMOORE, CA, US