Vaccinations During a Pandemic: Virtual Tabletop Exercise

The Berkshire County Boards of Health Association invite you to participate in a virtual tabletop exercise to test the group's plans for providing vaccinations during a pandemic. The virtual tabletop exercise will be taking place this Friday, Sept. 18 from 10:15am until 12:45 pm.

Players and Observers include the following:

• Board of Health
• Emergency Management Directors
• Law Enforcement Officials
• Hospitals
• Elected Officials
• Public Health and School Nurses
• Medical Reserve Corp Leaders
• Other Response Partners

You can register by going here.

The Zoom Room will open at 10:00 am this Friday.

Some FAQs Include the Following:

What is a Tabletop Exercise? Players meet to discuss the actions they would take during a simulated simulated emergency, testing their emergency response plans in an  informal, low-stress environment.

What emergency plans are being tested? Boards of Health (BOH) have Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) plans for vaccinations or prophylaxis for their entire populations during a public health emergency. These detailed plans include multiple partner agencies.

Who should attend this Exercise? Individuals whose emergency response roles would be essential to a largescale EDS operation.

What is the difference between Players and Observers? Players are an active part of the discussion. Observers are there mainly to watch, learn, and answer questions. Not solve problems.

About The Berkshire County Boards of Health Association (BCBOHA) 

The Berkshire County Boards of Health Association was founded in 1929 to promote education and coordination among the 32 Boards of Health (BOHs) in Berkshire County. It began as a loosely defined group that was essentially a networking system for BOH members and agents. In time, educational initiatives were begun on behalf of the whole county such as the certification process now in place for septic installers.

As the state and federal governments have begun to include Public Health workers in their definition of first responders, an increasing amount of pressure has been put on BOHs to improve their education, take an active role in emergency planning and liaise with police and fire departments. To this end, several grants have been directed towards local Boards of Health to increase their interoperability and preparedness. As this has happened, BCBOHA’s role in Berkshire County has grown. Federal grant money (from the Center for Disease Control) has come to Massachusetts and has then been parceled out to each county. BCBOHA is the Berkshire County association that has taken on the responsibility of overseeing this and other grants.

BCBOHA realizes how difficult it is for local Boards of Health to meet the regulatory and inspectional demands of their towns, and dealing with the many new state and federal requirements. Please contact us with any questions or comments about what we do and how we can help you.

BCBOHA holds twice-yearly dinner meetings with an educational component. Recent guest speakers have included DPH Commissioner John Auerbach; Barbara Coughlin RN, Health Educator; Priscilla Neves, RS, MEd, Director, MDPH Bureau of Environmental Health, Food Protection Program; Joseph A. Pieropan, Chief of the Appellate Division, Berkshire District Attorney’s Office; David J. Beaudin, Code Compliance and Enforcement Unit, Massachusetts Department of Fire Services; State Senator Ben Downing; and Marie Harpin, Berkshire Community Action Council, among others.

The Executive Committee is the governing body of the association. The Committee generally meets on the third Wednesday of each month, and the meetings are open to any Berkshire County Board of Health member interested in attending. Elections are held during the Association’s fall dinner meeting.