Point of Dispensing Location Optimization Plan for Fulton County, Georgia Using RealOpt© Público
Koch, Alexandra (Spring 2018)
Published
Abstract
Background: Point of Dispensing (POD) sites are pre-determined locations where medical countermeasures will be dispensed to the population at-large. These sites should be community-based locations and able to accommodate a large influx of people moving through the site quickly. PODs can be used in response to any natural or man-made biological event, such as an Anthrax release, Smallpox release, an emerging infectious disease or during influenza season.
Project Goal: This special studies project through the Rollins School of Public Health assists the Fulton County Board of Health’s Office of Emergency Preparedness with Point of Dispensing site selection and optimization for both mass vaccination campaigns and mass antibiotic dispensing events.
Methods: RealOpt©-Regional optimizes which PODs in a jurisdiction should be established based on varying throughputs and the population in the designated area. It then assigns some specific radii of the population to the nearest POD, calculating the total coverage of the designated area in the ideal time frame. Possible POD locations were selected based on polling location information from Fulton County GIS.
Results: RealOpt©-Regional identified 29 POD locations out of 88 potential sites, serving 92.12% of the Fulton County population and dispensing antibiotics for 2 days using a household model with 300,672 households served out of 326,702 households. Households excluded from the model must drive >10 miles to the closest POD location. These households are in the more rural, southern areas of Fulton County. Using these identified POD locations for a mass vaccination campaign, RealOpt© postulated it would take 7 days to serve 99.72% of the population.
Conclusions: If future planning includes stakeholder involvement,vetting of the POD location sites, and further exercises, Fulton County will be more thoroughly prepared for a public health emergency requiring medical countermeasure dispensing.
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6
ACRONYMS 8
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 9
PROJECT CONTENT 9
BACKGROUND 10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 12
PLANNING THREATS 12
Anthrax 13
Smallpox 14
Influenza and Emerging Threats 15
POD ORGANIZATION AND DISPENSING MODELS 16
Open and Closed PODs 18
Drive-Thru POD 19
Pharmacies 19
USPS Delivery Service 20
DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL POD MODEL 21
POD MODELING SOFTWARE 22
CHAPTER 3: METHODS 24
POD PLANNING CALCULATIONS 24
PROJECT METHODS 25
LIMITATIONS 26
CHAPTER 4: PROJECT CONTENT AND SCOPE 28
CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 34
RECOMMENDATIONS 34
CONCLUSIONS 35
REFERENCES 37
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Point of Dispensing Location Optimization Plan for Fulton County, Georgia Using RealOpt© () | 2018-04-20 10:18:48 -0400 |
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