Pinellas County (FL) Implements Model Vaccination Programs for Skilled Nursing Facilities and Emergency Personnel

Special JEMS “EMS TODAY SHOW” Join JEMS Editor Emeritus A.J. Heightman and Pinellas County, Florida, EMS/medical direction officials as they discuss model COVID vaccination programs implemented for emergency responders and skilled nursing home facility (SNF) residents and staff. Ulyee Choe, DO, director of the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Pinellas County; Angus Jameson, MD, Pinellas County EMS medical director and Charles (Chuck) Walker, Pinellas County EMS clinical services coordinator responsible for quality assurance discuss the planning and implementation of these important programs. Related: Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration The Pinellas team developed a clinical protocol (DH) training program and all supporting materials in just four days once the first COVID vaccine was approved; delivered that training on days five and six; and gave the first shots on day eight.  DOH-Pinellas was selected by the State of Florida as one of two counties to offer the first COVID-19 vaccines as part of the state’s pilot project. Broward County was the other Florida county selected. DOH-Pinellas partnered with paramedics and the Florida National Guard to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to SNF residents and staff. The goal was to augment the efforts of the federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens to deliver vaccine to the long-term care facilities. Pinellas is a county of one million population that has a...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives Florida Medicine Nursing Homes Source Type: news