The Dubois County Health Department is closing from 8 am to 12 noon on January 30th for a mass point of dispensing, or POD, location drill.
During this drill, staff will practice setting up a POD location to provide medication if there was ever an outbreak or attack of an agent.
This drill is required by the Division of Emergency Preparedness DEP grant within the Indiana State Department of Health.
The drill’s purpose is to distribute medication in order to prevent illness in the case of an outbreak or attack of an agent.
POD’s are not treatment sites.
If there were an outbreak, residents that were exposed or at risk of being exposed to the identified agent would come to the POD to receive medication.
The Indiana State Department of Health would fund this medication, and it would not cost the participant anything.
To make this drill more realistic, state officials made a scenario of a Hepatitis A exposure in a buffet-style popular restaurant.
In this made-up scenario, a worker supposedly handled food while ill and prepared it for consumption by customers between January 18th and January 20th.
A vaccination clinic scenario will also be scheduled at the Jasper Middle School.
All Dubois County Health Department staff are assigned a role to help with setting up this POD exercise.
As a reminder, the temporary closure of the Dubois County Health Department services to the public is on January 30th is for a drill only and will last from 8 am to 12 noon.
