Public health emergency drill scheduled for today

April 26--WATERTOWN -- Employees at the Jefferson County Public Health Service are participating in state-mandated emergency drills today.

The drills are meant to help prepare local health officials for disasters like outbreaks of disease or chemical exposures; one was last held in Jefferson County in 2015.

Faith E. Lustik, the public information officer for today's drill, talked about the scenario given to local health officials to prepare them.

"Here, the scenario is that there's been a mass exposure to Hepatitis A," said Mrs. Lustik. Because the disease is spread through improper handwashing, the scenario behind the drill is that supermarket produce was handled improperly by someone with Hepatitis A.

"These drills really just help us sharpen our skills," she said. "Our goal is to see at least 77 people per hour. We feel that would give us the best idea of how long it would take to treat each person with the vaccine or immunoglobulin (antibodies), and how many staff we would need."

Volunteers will not actually receive any vaccines or injections, but will be asked questions by clerical and nursing staff.

Anyone interested in volunteering can come to the County Highway Department Garage, at 21897 County Route 190 in Watertown, between noon and 2 p.m. today.

It is recommended that volunteers pre-register, but that is not mandatory. Volunteers will also receive free tips on preventing Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Volunteers can pre-register at wdt.me/public-health-drill.

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