The 15 volunteers are on Tampa Fire Rescue's "Smallpox Task Force."
By TAMARA LUSH
Published April 4, 2003
TAMPA - Lt. Terry Hall, a Tampa Fire Rescue paramedic, didn't think twice about getting a smallpox vaccination.
"I'm stationed at the airport," he said. "If smallpox is used as a biological weapon, I would have a good chance of getting exposed to it."
Hall is one of 15 Tampa Fire Rescue paramedics who received the vaccination in February. They are the first in their agency to be vaccinated.
The paramedics are pioneers in another way: They are part of Tampa Fire Rescue's "Smallpox Task Force," and have been trained by the Hillsborough County Health Department to give vaccinations to fellow emergency workers.
Tampa Fire Rescue Lt. Bill Wade said the task force is one of the first in the nation to pair paramedics with public health officials in administering the vaccine.
The smallpox shots are voluntary. Police and fire departments around the Tampa Bay area are surveying their employees to find out who is interested in receiving one.
At the Tampa Police Department, officers have received confidential questionnaires.
In St. Petersburg, fire Capt. Bill Ward said at least 45 of 330 fire department employees have expressed interest in the shots, but he expects more workers will get vaccinated.
He said the shots also would be available in an emergency.
"The only thing is, will you know that you have been exposed to it?" Ward asked. "That's when you have to weigh things out in your mind. Should you be proactive, or should you wait and receive it after you've been exposed?"
Tiffany Melton, an occupational health nurse who works for Tampa Fire Rescue, expects 50 percent of the city's police and fire department employees to be vaccinated. That means hundreds of people could receive the shot.
Tampa's task force has been meeting with the Hillsborough Health Department to educate paramedics about the risks and procedures of giving the smallpox vaccine.
Instead of going to the health department for the shot and after-care, city firefighters and emergency workers will be vaccinated by trained paramedics at one of four locations in the city. The paramedics will monitor people for signs of problems caused by the vaccine, and will provide followup care.
State officials already have started to vaccinate health care workers who could potentially handle smallpox cases.
The state is currently re-interviewing health workers before they receive smallpox vaccinations to eliminate those with serious heart problems.
In March, a 57-year-old St. Petersburg nurse died of heart problems a few weeks after receiving a smallpox shot. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the case and several similar cases nationwide.
Experts estimate that 15 to 50 people out of every 1-million vaccinated for the first time will face life-threatening complications. One or two will die.
- Times staff writer Leanora Minai contributed to this report.
[Last modified April 4, 2003, 02:33:12]
Hillsborough County headlines
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
