Mobile Immunizations Toolkit

Welcome to the Mobile Immunizations Toolkit! This toolkit is designed to help local health departments work with schools and healthcare providers to plan and host onsite immunization clinics in their schools or community. It was developed and piloted by the Spokane Regional Health District at 26 schools within 10 school districts in Spokane County.

When you are ready to start planning your immunization clinic, you will find tools here to help you do so! We’ve organized the toolkit through a series of checklists to get you organized from 6 weeks pre-event to post-event. Within each checklist, you’ll find downloadable templates and other useful documents for hosting your own school or community-based immunization clinic. Questions? Please contact us; we are here to help and to connect you with community partners who have utilized the Mobile Immunization Toolkit.

School-located vaccination programs are evidence-based, best-practice strategies that reduce out-of-pocket costs, increase vaccination rates, and increase access to immunizations that reduce morbidity and mortality related to vaccine-preventable diseases.

—Community Preventive Services Task Force

Demonstration Videos

Immunization Clinic Setup
Immunization Clinic Walkthrough

Arrow Arrow Background

Schools and childcares in Washington State are required to collect immunization records for each enrolled child and monitor those children whose immunization records are out-of-compliance (not meeting the state immunization requirements), in conditional status, or those with an exemption. Schools have the legal authority to exclude children who have not received all of the required immunizations they are due to receive or in the event of a disease outbreak (if there is an exemption or immunity is unknown for the vaccine related to the disease outbreak).

In 2015/16 the Spokane School District (SSD), in response to the large number of students whose immunization records were out-of-compliance, informed parents that they needed to provide up-to-date immunization records or their child(ren) would be excluded from school. The SSD recognized that a proportion of these OOC students were missing or not up-to-date on required immunizations and worked with the Spokane Regional Health District to coordinate multiple free, community-wide, school-located immunization clinics for children and adults. Out of these efforts, the Mobile Immunization Toolkit was developed.

 

Arrow Arrow Overview

School-located vaccination events (a.k.a. SLVs, Imms-To-Go events, mobile immunization clinics) are 2-5 hour vaccination events that take place in a facility that has been “transformed” into a clinical setting capable of mass vaccination. These events can be employed with a variety of partners. Key players in Spokane have included: healthcare providers, pharmacies, local health jurisdictions, local universities and colleges, school districts, and childcare centers. The key components to making these events successful are:

  • planning
  • leadership buy-in
  • strong communication
  • creativity
  • strong detail management
  • partnership building and maintenance

Each participant plays a definitive role; these roles can be interchangeable and overlap at times- take a look at this document, which highlights the importance of clearly outlining roles and responsibilities at the very beginning of clinic planning. Most of the descriptions pertain to Spokane County implementation and experience, but it may be useful for communities interested in replicating this model.

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: 6 weeks or more

Are you ready to start planning your school-located immunization clinic? We recommend that you give yourself at least 6 weeks of lead-time. See below for a checklist of what you need to do at this point in time. Click on the links for relevant documents. This week, identify your venue and start recruiting volunteers.

*Lead agency and partners can be any group (local health jurisdiction, school, or healthcare provider)

LEAD AGENCY* PARTNER(S)*

Participate in any informational sessions/meetings with partners to obtain event approval

Arrange and coordinate any necessary meetings/emails to obtain site administrator approval

Ensure facility use agreements and other practice agreements have been reviewed and are current

Ensure facility use agreements and other practice agreements have been reviewed and are current

Coordinate site assessment date with partner

Plan and communicate site assessment date; ensure all necessary parties can be present

Conduct site assessment using Event Planning Checklist

Participate in site assessment

Email copy of checklist with action items to partner

Follow-up on agreed action items per checklist

Create a volunteer roster document based on event needs and email to partner

Assist in general volunteer recruitment

Arrange vaccinator group and associated preceptors

Provide/review lead agency/vaccine source list of desired vaccines

Prepare layout design and share with partner; make any additional changes

Review layout design and provide feedback to lead agency

Obtain out-of-compliance data from school; necessary for proper vaccine planning

Determine out-of-compliance/immunization coverage needs among students

Useful documents for 6 weeks or more Pre-Event

  1. Immunization Event Planning Checklist (organized by venue/logistics, volunteers, supplies, promotion)
  2. SRHD Standing Orders for Administering Vaccinations at Offsite Locations
  3. Point Of Dispensing Staffing Roster Template
  4. Sample Volunteer Position Description: Vaccinator
  5. Volunteer Station Assignment At-A-Glance Template

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: 5 weeks

This week, efforts should be focused on developing marketing materials for your event and distributing them to community partners.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Develop communication plan for event marketing, including promotional flyer and social media messaging

Review communication plan and inform lead agency of any potential issues/or site administrator approval needs

Prepare event marketing event flyer (sample 1sample 2, or sample 3) draft and email to partner (obtain all partner logos)

Review event flyer and submit the print materials through the appropriate channels needed for approval and submit any changes to lead agency

Distribute all approved marketing materials through agency Public Information Officer (PIO) and other identified sources

Ensure all marketing materials have received necessary approval

Prepare contingency plans for any anticipated issues at site

Distribute flyer to all contacts and networks

Inform lead agency of any expected/anticipated issues (i.e. conflicting venue events, protesters

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: 4 weeks

This week, the focus should be placed on ordering all vaccines and photocopying reference materials for your event.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Place order for any needed vaccine for event

Participate in a planning call with lead agency to review event materials (volunteer roster, checklist action items)

Organize a planning call with partner to review volunteer roster, checklist action items, etc.

Follow-up on any action items

Prepare Vaccinator Job Action Sheets (JAS) and vaccination station reference materials (immunization schedules, available vaccine list with indications, how to administer sheets are current)

Determine which unit lead position to fulfill for the event

Follow-up with vaccinator group and provide all training tools via email or cloud account (DropBox)

Useful documents for 4 weeks Pre-Event

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: 3 weeks

This week, distribute relevant training materials to all event staff and volunteers.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Review volunteer list and recruit remaining volunteers

Assist in volunteer recruitment as needed

Prepare job action sheets for all staffing positions and share with partner

Communicate any restrictions with posting event signs on walls, etc.

Email all volunteer Job Action Sheets and associated training tools

Continue communication plan action items

Continue communication plan action items

Schedule agency vehicle, if needed/ensure transportation for supplies

Confirm that screeners have access to WA State Immunization Registry

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: 1-2 weeks

This week, begin assembling vaccination station supplies into travel totes and make photocopies of all necessary paperwork.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Inventory available medical/vaccine supplies and determine needs (per Clinic Checklist); order accordingly

Ensure supplies identified on Clinic Checklist are arranged (tables, chairs, etc.)

Schedule agency vehicle

Review registration/consent forms and provide any edits

Obtain general supplies (per Clinic Checklist)

Continue communication plan action items

Adapt Registration/Consent Forms and email to partner for review

Identify any needs and communicate to partner for assistance

Make copies of all needed materials (consent forms, educational materials, vaccine information sheets, staff/volunteer evaluations, vaccination station lists, etc.)

Determine if partner will be able to provide bottled water/snacks to volunteers

Assemble vaccination station boxes replete with station supplies

Gather needed supplies into travel totes

Prepare volunteer folders with lanyards/badges/vests

Send check-in email to all volunteers

Continue communication plan action items

Useful documents for 1-2 weeks Pre-Event

Arrow Arrow Pre-Event Checklist: Day Before

It’s almost time for your event, and most of the hard work is already done! Today, make sure that you have arranged all traffic equipment and promotional signage and send out a confirmation email to all event staff and volunteers.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Notify EMS of event

Identify any needs and communicate to partner for assistance

Obtain all traffic/safety/flow equipment and event signs

Confirm all identified site needs have been arranged or prepared (copier, laptops, printers, etc.)

Identify any needs and communicate to partner for assistance

Inform lead agency of any required reminders for volunteers (entrance/exit; footwear-no heels in the gymnasium)

Confirm arrival time and check-in process for all volunteers

Ensure arrangements for bottled water/snacks (either lead or partner)

Arrow Arrow Event Checklist: Day Of

You made it! Ensure that all necessary materials are transported to the site in a timely manner.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Prepare all vaccines for transport

Begin site set-up based on layout design, if possible; ensure tables/chairs, etc. are available

Load all supplies into vehicle

Assist with volunteer check-in

Arrive 1 to 1 ½ hours prior to start time (promptly communicate any delays to partner)

Fulfill unit lead position

Act as Point of Dispensing (POD) supervisor

Provide general oversight of event and inform POD supervisor of any immediate issues

Alert/involve site contact/partner in necessary situations

Useful documents for Day Of Event

Arrow Arrow Event Checklist: Post Event

Congratulations on hosting an immunization event! Take some time to meet as a group and discuss what worked well and what could be improved upon in the future.

LEAD AGENCY PARTNER(S)

Facilitate debrief session with partner

Participate in debrief session with lead agency

Complete After-Action-Report and submit to partner

Provide any other feedback

Send thank you email to all volunteers/site administrator

Engage in planning talks for the next event

Useful documents for Post Event

Arrow Arrow Resources & Literature

Download a copy of the Imms-To-Go Manual that the Spokane Regional Health District developed and what this toolkit is based on. Please email us if you have any questions.

Arrow Arrow Case Study: Spokane Clinic

Over the past several years, the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) has implemented the Imms-To-Go toolkit at numerous schools and has vaccinated thousands of children and adults across Spokane. The SRHD has had tremendous success with this toolkit. For example, in one school year, the Spokane School District went from an out-of-compliance rate of 24.6% to 1.6% among their kindergarteners! Similar efforts occurred with sixth graders; they started with a 46.4% out-of-compliance rate and it dropped to only 1.1%. You can download a PDF of what the clinic planning and implementation looked like at an immunization clinic hosted in 2016.

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