Be Aware and Prepared

Last Wednesday, Portland Community College nursing faculty and students participated in the Washington County Public Health preparedness exercise. The objective was to practice dispensing medications/vaccinations to community members as efficiently and quickly as possible. Should there ever be any type of communicable disease event where this action would be warranted, the public would then be notified (TV, radio, internet) with instructions of where to go to receive treatment. The county health department along with first responders ran this event. M n Ms were dispensed, either plain or peanut. Again, one wonders if real vaccinations were needed, would there be enough nurses ready in a very short period of time to help? This is another reason why we need an Office of the National Nurse, with National Nurse Team members in every community who could immediately respond to provide the best possible care to all Americans