Paramedics Granted Emergency Authority To Give Hep A Vaccinations
Paramedics will be able to deliver hepatitis A doses only under the supervision of nurses and only at special events created to inoculate those who are at high risk of infection.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Paramedics To Join Hepatitis A Fight
Paramedics are the newest troops in the fight against San Diego’s ever-growing hepatitis A outbreak. A letter signed this week by the director of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority temporarily expands state laws that govern paramedics, granting them emergency powers to “vaccinate at-risk populations in response to the outbreak.” Dr. Kristi Koenig, director of the San Diego County Emergency Medical Service, requested the temporary scope of practice expansion on Sept. 20 and said Wednesday night that she received approval in the mail Tuesday. (Sisson, 10/4)
Los Angeles Times:
San Diego Hepatitis Outbreak Continues To Grow: 481 Cases
Add 20 more cases and 22 more hospitalizations to San Diego County’s ever-growing hepatitis A outbreak.Tuesday afternoon the county Health and Human Services Agency raised the number of the outbreak’s confirmed cases to 481 from 461 and hospitalizations to 337 from 315. The death count associated with the outbreak, which started in November 2016, remained at 17 for a second straight week. (Sisson, 10/4)