After crash, nurses come to Public Health’s aid

FAIRFIELD — Nurses from Jefferson County Public Health were involved in an automobile accident last week, but that didn’t stop the department from completing its vaccine clinics that day, with help from nurses at the Jefferson County Health Center.

The incident occurred on the morning of April 6 when three Public Health nurses — Deb Buch, Tammy Merrill and Mandi Lauderman — were involved in an automobile accident en route to one of their four clinics that day. None of them was seriously hurt, but they had to go to Jefferson County Clinics for a post-accident evaluation.

After making sure her employees were safe, Jefferson County Public Health Administrator Chris Estle had to think fast about what to do. Her department has only six employees, so it was not possible for the others to abandon their posts to perform these clinics. Since these were booster shot clinics of the Moderna vaccine that are recommended to be given 28 days after the first dose, Estle did not want to reschedule them.

Estle reached out to Staci Worley, emergency room and education manager at the Jefferson County Health Center. The Public Health department and the health center have an agreement to come to each other’s aid in the case of an emergency. Estle asked Worley and another health center employee Shelly Adkison, both nurses, to help public health administer vaccines that day. They agreed.

Worley and Adkison joined Estle and Public Health nursing assistant Michelle Hoy to perform two clinics that morning.

“That is what our community response is supposed to look like,” Estle said. “Staci and Shelly were here immediately.”

Estle said it would have taken her and the rest of the staff twice as long to perform the clinics without the help from Adkison and Worley.

“I knew with that extra set of hands, we could get done in a timely manner,” she said.

Worley said the health center and Public Health have been working together for a long time, even before COVID. Public Health nurses have been trained to assist the health center in the event of a mass casualty event, and the two departments perform drills together to practice for this sort of emergency.

“We were thankful we were able to work together so seamlessly,” Worley said. “It’s nice to know the key players in the community are able to help each other whenever the need arises.”

By the afternoon, the three nurses involved in that morning’s accident were able to resume their duties and finish the other clinics. Estle said it was a stressful day for them in what has become a stressful 12 months.

“The pandemic response is starting to take a physical and emotional toll on us in the department,” Estle said. “We are exhausted, and we can’t do our normal Public Health duties because those have been put on the back burner. We’ve been coming to the office early and staying late, while taking verbal abuse over the phone.”