The initial news last spring about the H1N1 virus was not good. Early reports from Mexico suggested that the disease caused by the virus was far more virulent than the seasonal flu, and seemed to hit younger folk particularly hard. I had read about a private school in New York which was hit hard after students returned from a trip to Mexico. The anxiety level was increasing rapidly as the media reported breathlessly about this potential threat to public health. At that point, we made what seemed at the time to be a pretty routine decision that turned out to be quite fortunate in terms of what it allowed the school to do.

We decided that rather than rely on the media for information about the H1N1 virus, we called the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department. As a good luck would have it, the Health Department was about to hold a regional information session on the subject, primarily for area universities and larger school districts, and we were invited to attend; we were the only small school in attendance. That began a close working relationship between the Health Department and CWA. As a result of that relationship, we were able to get reliable information quickly and easily, and that, in turn, permitted us to arrange for a vaccination clinic much earlier than other schools in the area.

One of the more challenging aspects of dealing with the issues surrounding the H1N1 virus is that the information is constantly changing. While that’s understandable, because this particular disease has not appeared before in its present form, it is frustrating for everyone. Last spring, information literally would change from morning to afternoon, or overnight. I remember well one occasion when we worked very hard all day putting an information piece together for parents, expecting it to go out the next morning. By early the next morning, some of the information was already obsolete, and we had to work to change it before sending it on to parents. There was about a two-week period last spring when it felt that quite a few of us were spending virtually all of our time trying to keep up with the information flow and deciding how the school would respond in various different circumstances.

Fortunately, the disease hit late in our flu season, and within a few short weeks, the incidence of disease seemed to decrease markedly. That gave us from late spring through the summer to learn more and to lay plans for various contingencies during the 2009-10 school year. One of the things all of us learned during that time was that the early information about the severity of the disease was incorrect. By the time the fall came around, it was clear that for most people, the severity of the disease was no greater than the seasonal flu. One disturbing aspect remained: whereas the seasonal flu seemed to have the most severe impact on the very young and very old, the H1N1 virus had the tendency to impact more seriously school-age children and pregnant women.

In the late summer it became clear that there would be a nationwide vaccination program and that the program would focus first on the higher-risk parts of the population. The Health Department asked us, along with other schools, to consider offering a vaccination clinic at CWA, so  that we could benefit both our school community and the public at large. By getting “out of the gate” early, we secured a place at the head of the line for the private company we chose, based on information we obtained from the Health Department.

Due to problems with the production schedule, the availability of the H1N1 vaccination was far more restricted than anyone originally thought. That shortage made our decision to inquire early about a clinic that much more important. Other schools as well as many health providers simply were unable to get the vaccine. And, by holding a clinic early, we were able to vaccinate a large portion of our population before the continuing vaccine shortages led the Health Department on November 7 to restrict access to the vaccine to particularly high risk people, which for the first time did not include school-age children.

The logistics necessary for the school to pull off its first-ever vaccination clinic were considerable. None of us have medical training. Not surprisingly, parents had many questions, and being out of our area of expertise it was difficult to figure out how to walk the fine line between trying to be responsive and not going beyond our knowledge, potentially leading to our providing inaccurate or misleading medical information. We also were not entirely in control of the process and the requirements. The consent form was not our design, nor were we in a position to decide for ourselves that ending completely filled out form was really okay and should not stand in the way of a child being vaccinated.

Despite the various challenges, the vaccination clinic went quite smoothly, and I am both gratified by the overwhelming positive response of parents and students as well as proud of the staff involved for working the planning an execution of the clinic into their busy schedules.

The weeks leading up to the vaccination clinic were both interesting and challenging for another reason as well, which I will address in the next installment of this two-part post.