Media Advisory: Come Watch as Health District Trains for Public Health Emergency

Free Flu Shot Event a Great Way for WCHD to Practice Emergency Response

Reno, Nev. Oct. 15, 2019 – Media are invited to watch as Washoe County Health District (WCHD) personnel run a Point of Dispensing (POD) site at the Truckee Meadows Healthy Communities Family Health Festival on Oct. 16 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at North Valleys High School.

The Health District invited the public to come down and receive a free flu shot at the event, in addition to the wide variety of health services and screenings that will be available. WCHD employees will use the event as a training opportunity for its role in POD capabilities.

In the event of a disaster, which includes bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks, the Health District is responsible for the planning, implementation and pushout of medical countermeasures to reduce morbidity and mortality in the local population. PODs are designed to quickly dispense life-saving medications to large numbers of people during emergencies.

Who/What:  Washoe County Health District Point of Dispensing (POD) event

When: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 from 3:30-6:30 p.m.

Where: North Valleys High School cafeteria 

Why: The Health District’s Public Health Preparedness Program is dedicated to increasing the ability of our community to respond to and recover from a wide variety of disaster scenarios, including bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks.

Media: An interview with a subject matter expert will be available at 4 p.m.

More information about the Washoe County Health District PODs can be found here.

The Washoe County Health District has jurisdiction over all public health matters in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through the policy-making Washoe County District Board of Health. The District consists of five divisions: Administrative Health Services, Air Quality Management, Community and Clinical Health Services, Environmental Health Services and Epidemiology & Public Health Preparedness. To learn more, visit https://www.washoecounty.us/health/