Drive Through Flu Shots

NAT SOUND 1 ((Hi, where are you going to stick it, just right up there? But
you know what, I need your shirt up as high as you can possibly get it. I
can’t go any higher than that..)

Roll up your sleeves, roll down your window. And please, put it in park.

Those were the unusual nurse’s orders to patients at THE Monadnock
Community Hospital. The orders were atypical and so was the setting: a
drive-through flu shot clinic.

These patients didn’t have to get out of their jeeps and SUVs--they simply
pulled up to the hospital and got the shots.

Dairy farmers Peter and Ann Sawyer get a flu shot each year.

P. SAWYER ``Just jab it in. jab it in the way I would a cow. (laughs) It’s a
smaller needle than a cow.’’

The Sawyers live in nearby Jaffrey. Ann Sawyer said getting a drive-through
shot was an easy choice.

A. SAWYER ``Because it’s close. I won’t go farther than downtown and I
haven't got an appointment anywhere else. This was just so convenient and so
simple.’’

Each patient filled out a questionnaire about potential allergies and paid a
$15 fee. Next, an arm was swabbed with alcohol and poked with the needle.

Registered nurses were available to give shots to four people in a vehicle at
the same time. Patients could request either arm, but most drivers got poked
in the left arm, passengers in the right arm.

Patients chatted with nurses for a minute or two, to make sure there was no
bad reaction to the shot. Then, they got free candy and drove away.

The process took less than five minutes, from lineup to lollipop.

George and Laurie Gardos live in Peterborough. After nearly missing their flu
shots last year, they decided to try the drive-through this year.
G. GARDOS ``How does it feel to get a flu shot in your SUV? (laughs)..it’s
great.’’

L. GARDOS ``This is very, sort of a friendly atmosphere. It seems to make it
much more easy, like anything that’s accessible that’s a drive through, very
very unique idea..it’s wonderful.’’

THE occupational health and wellness department at the hospital organized The mobile clinic. The idea was to get the bulk of flu shots done on
one day.

This is the second year for the vaccinations, dubbed McFlu shots by some
patients.

Was patient safety compromised by getting shots in station wagons instead of
the more traditional office setting?

The nurses said no. The staff travels to companies and industries to give flu
shots, sometimes operating in indoor environments they say are dirtier than
the outdoors.

Whether giving the shots in a car or an office, nurse Deb Cilley said it’s
the shot -- not the place-- that determines quality care.

CILLEY ``Sure. it’s no different than actually sitting in a doctor's office.
A doctor's office is not a sterile environment. Our needles are sterile and
that’s the only thing that really needs to be, so it’s no different than
getting it anywhere else, really.’’

This year’s flu shot protects against three strains of influenza: New
Caledonia, Panama and Hong Kong. The vaccine is changed each year to protect
people from the prevailing strains of virus.

Health officials recommend the flu shot for people older than 50, and those
with diabetes, cardiac or pulmonary disease or compromised immune systems.

Convenience, and maybe a little novelty, were incentives for many of the 300
patients who got the shots during the two clinics.

One of those was Sharon resident, Steve Palmer.

PALMER: ``I love it, I love it. I’d certainly do it again. I drive up here
and deliver flowers quite often. It’s just very convenient. Chances are it
wouldn't have happened if I couldn’t just drive up here and do it.''

FOR NHPR NEWS, I'M CAROLYN MARTIN IN PETERBOROUGH.

(((NAT SOUND 2 17:24. ``There you go. Stay healthy’’....car drives off ))