If a major catastrophe would ever hit Hawai‘i and we exhausted our supply of medication there is a fall back plan. The US strategic national stockpile of medicine and supplies could be tapped and delivered within 12 hours.
The Department of Health would distribute that medication to the public through “points of distribution” or “pods” spread out across the state.
The DOH is staging a full sized emergency medication distribution drill today at the Blasdell Center. More than five hundred volunteer “actors” will test the efficiency of the emergency management system… moving from one end, receiving their medication, and exiting as soon as possible.
Judy Kern is the Education and training coordinator of the DOH’s Public Health Preparedness Branch.
Kern says tomorrow’s event is the first full drill in 5 years. She adds that results from today’s drill will be looked over for ways to better improve the distribution system.
