The free shots provided Wednesday offered Rapid City youths a layer of protection against the flu, a current-day enemy.

The city's mass vaccination clinic also provided volunteers and health professionals with training for the day that thousands could need medical aid in a future disaster.

Fighting a public health menace, today and tomorrow, was the two-pronged purpose of the second annual clinic. It is part of South Dakota's Child Influenza Immunization Initiative.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday, Rushmore Plaza Civic Center doors opened to the six-hour free flu-shot clinic for children ages 6 months to 18 years, offered by the South Dakota Department of Health and Pennington County Office of Emergency Management. Organizers prepared for 6,000 children to check in, take a medical screening, go through dispensing, receive their flu shots and sit out for 15 minutes of observation before heading for home.

Dee Dee Karabetsos and Michelle Robinson of Rapid City were two of the 400 volunteers participating at the clinic.

Karabetsos, a retired teacher and new to the community, had wanted to share her knowledge at the clinic. "I was part of the disaster training that went on out at the airport in June," she said.

Robinson, a biology student at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, was interested in the mock-disaster nature of the clinic.

"I'm interested in the spread of malaria, and I thought it would be interesting to come and see how they do this," she said about the mass exercise.

Linda Marchand, the health department's regional manager, has worked in flu-shot clinics for 10 years of her 30-year career. Marchand, who has participated in large vaccination clinics in Pine Ridge and for the second time in Rapid City, said a lot of pre-planning was involved for the event.

"We did 1,946 vaccinations last year. We felt blessed that it went so well," she said.

"We saw a steady flow at 3 p.m. when school got out, and we're expecting another as soon as parents get off work at about 6," said Rapid City Department of Fire & Emergency Services Capt. Mark Kirchgesler.

If the community ever needed mass inoculations or medications because of an epidemic, pandemic, natural disaster, chemical warfare or bioterrorism, the emergency point-of-dispensing system used at the mass clinic could be expanded to vaccinate 100,000 people over a 48-hour period, Kirchgesler said.

"We've planned for 5,000 to 6,000 students. If we were to exceed that, we do have access to an additional 2,000 units of vaccine," he said.

The massive clinic brought in personnel from the South Dakota Department of Health, Pennington County Office of Emergency Management, Western Dakota Technical Institute nursing students, data entry and law enforcement workers, South Dakota State University and University of South Dakota nursing students, Rapid City Police Department personnel, Sioux San Hospital volunteers, School of Mines students volunteering to enter data, and volunteers from Ellsworth Air Force Base and the U.S. Forest Service.

Earlier in the day, 136 students from North and Dakota middle schools completed vaccination clinics there in 30 minutes, Kirchgesler said.

"We're not the only ones doing this," he said.

Sioux Falls has had such two clinics, and other communities are planning theirs, he said. "There's a plan throughout the state."

Flu shots for children ages 6 months to 18 years are available at medical clinics, doctors' offices and at the South Dakota Department of Health, 909 East St. Patrick St. A shot costs $7. For more information, call 394-2516.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com