Thompson

The Marshall County Board of Health held its first meeting of the year Tuesday, and COVID-19 mitigation will once again remain a key focus for the public health department.

County Public Health Director Pat Thompson addressed the department’s preparedness and response to the virus, as it has now been almost two years since the first wave resulted in widespread lockdowns across the United States.

Thompson said the delivery, logging and storage of COVID vaccines continue to take up a lion’s share of her duties these days.

“As we go through this pandemic and maybe endemic as it goes, storage will still be important,” she said. “My job is to order the vaccines and look at what the county needs for the next two weeks.”

She noted forecasting the level of need for vaccines can be scary as numbers start to spike. The department has Pfizer vaccines for adults and adolescents along with Moderna and Johnson and Johnson doses, and vaccine doses are kept in an ultra-cold storage freezer at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.

Thompson has been meeting weekly with a team she referred to as vaccine partners, including representatives from UnityPoint, McFarland, Primary Health Care, Hy-Vee and JBS. Marshall County Emergency Management Director Kim Elder and Board of Health Chairman Dr. Ken Lyons also participate in the meetings.

Together, they discuss vaccine availability among the different entities in charge of administering the shots. This way, Thompson knows where doses are needed.

Elder said long term care facilities are starting to run low on COVID testing kits. She delivered more kits to area facilities last week to help keep up with increased testing and illness. Thompson said she is also hearing from many people who are seeking testing kits and guidance.

“I do get a lot of phone calls. They are trying to figure out ‘How do I take care of myself and other people?'” she said.

In other business, Elder gave her report on the emergency management agency. She said during a conference call among state agencies on Monday, there was discussion of providing EMS education to high school students. This is an initiative Elder has supported as a way to get younger people involved as either volunteers or paid EMS staff.

“I have been pushing for schools to look at recognizing the EMT program for their students who take continuing education through college,” she said. “It would really benefit us to get those as a class that students can take.”

Elder said there are two problems causing EMT shortages: a lack of funding and a lack of volunteers.

“Smaller units and agencies can’t find anyone to hire on staff, just like anyone else. If they do find someone to hire, they can’t afford to keep them,” she said. “We see that here at the hospital. They are going to bigger, better and better paying. It’s expensive for someone to volunteer to pay for their own classes.”