Practice makes perfect, and that’s exactly why Bismarck Burleigh Public Health is practicing responding to an emergency. On June 28, BBPH will be holding an exercise at Century High School. Nurses and other staff from BBPH and other area public health units will practice setting up a Point of Dispensing (POD) site and distributing medication to people who come to the POD.
Volunteers ages 16 and over are needed to make this exercise successful. Volunteers should go to Century High School at 2:00 pm. During the two hour exercise, volunteers will go through the POD and receive an antibiotic (for this exercise, candy will be used instead of real antibiotics). Volunteers who have a driver’s license should bring it along.
“We are required to do exercises like this every year. The idea is to give our staff hands-on experience, so if there ever is a real emergency, we know what to do,” says Jody Kerzman, Emergency Preparedness Public Information Officer for BBPH.
Pre-registration is not necessary – volunteers are encouraged to drop in on June 28 between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. But, if you know you would like to help, please contact Jody Kerzman at 355.1556 or jskerzman@nd.gov by June 27.