Floyd County Extension hosted our first Health and Safety Event. 114 total 30 males, 84 women and 7 youth.  The Floyd County Cooperative Extension Office and staff planned and organized a Community Health and Safety Event with a goal of promotion vaccinations. It was conducted on Friday, August 12^th, 2022, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The event was held at the Jenny Wiley State Park Convention Center.

This event was conducted with the cooperation of Big Sandy Healthcare. It was promoted as a community event and had vendors from several of our community partners and organizations. Those participating were Big Sandy Healthcare, Floyd County Health Department, Kentucky State Police, Kings Daughter Hospital, Kentucky Homeplace Clinic, Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Mountain Regional Prevention Center, Anthem, FCHD Hands Program, and several Extension booths.

The event provided the attendees with educational materials, medical services, demonstrations, and incentive items. Some of the services provided were physicals, A1Cs, vaccinations (covid, tetanus, and whooping cough), blood pressure checks, and others. Since we recently had major flooding in the area, some services were directed to those attendees displaced and staying at the park. Companies involved in flood clean-up efforts sent some of their employees to the event just for tetanus vaccinations. In addition, Extension and other vendors provided materials and information about dealing with flood related issues and stresses. Many of the vendors changed what services and information that were provided to better address the needs of those displaced by the flooding.  Such as Highlands ARH providing a physician to come to the event and do physical assessments of foot injuries from flooding.

4-H had 4-H Kid’s Corner, where we promoted 4-H Camp and had hands on craft and nutrition activities. This gave the adult participants a chance to go around and participate, while their kids had something fun and educational to do also

The event was promoted weeks prior by the use of posters and flyers that were distributed to local offices, businesses, and housing sites. The event was posted on social media sites and shared by many of our vendors and community partners. On the day of the event, WMDJ Radio ran several spots encouraging participation and WSAZ TV ran a news story about the event.

The event had approximately one hundred and twenty attendees with nearly sixty-five percent being females. Even though we had a mix of ages, most of the attendees were over the age of fifty-five. The attendees and vendors were very pleased with the event, the services, and educational resources provided.

               In addition to the event, the Floyd County Cooperative Extension Office has provided vaccination resources and promotion of other vaccination events during the past year. We are pleased with the successes of our efforts.