11/05/09
Student H1N1 flu clinic draws nearly 75 percent of Cape pupils
Cape Elizabeth schools served a better-than-average turnout of students for its N1H1 flu clinic Oct. 30, 2009.
A total of 1,260 students, nearly 75 percent of the 1,709 students who attend Cape schools, received either a shot or nasal-mist of the N1H1 flu vaccine during the day, Superintendent Alan Hawkins told members of the School Board at their Nov. 3 meeting.
"We were told to expect probably 50 percent if we were lucky," Hawkins told the board.
Cape Elizabeth was just the second school system in Maine to offier the H1N1 flu vaccine clinic, Hawkins said. The superintendent, who meets regularly with a team of medical personnel at Maine Medical Center about flu predcautions, said the team was shocked when he reported the high Cape turnout.
"But, in order to do this, it has taken an enormous amount of work," Hawkins told the board. Without the dedication of school nursing staff and administrators, and that of community volunteers, a flu clinic of such numbers would not have succeeded, he said. "I cannot tell you what amazing support we had from everyone who was there - from parent volunteers to nurses to doctors," Hawkins said.
Eight staff members from HomeHealth Visting Nurses of Saco administered the vaccine, as did at least one retired doctor who volunteered services. Other volunteers took on organizing duties, took student temperatures, and stayed with students to be sure they remained on site for 15 minutes after the vaccination, Hawkins said.
He added that few school systems in the state experience such a response calls for volunteers. "(They volunteers) do come, and they do work closely with us, and I truly truly appreciate that," Hawkin said.
He also credited the large student turnout to scheduling the clinic during the school day. "I would not do this for a lot of vaccines, but, we have a life and death situation here," Hawkins told the board. "If you do it on a Saturday, if you do it in the evening, you won't get the same number of people there," he said.
Future clinics
The School Department is considering offering another H1N1 clinic for students who were absent on Oct. 30, or whose parents turned down the chance to get the vaccine but have since changed their minds, Hawkins said.
The schools are also planning a follow-up H1N1 clinic for students 10 and younger who will need a second dose. Hawkins said there were more than 400 of those students inoculated at the Oct. 30 clinic.
More detailed information about future clinics will be announced.
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