Volunteering is all the rage -- until it's not

I go through spells of this, and then I fade, only to return with spells of that. Right now I'm into volunteering. For Thanksgiving, I watched the Feed The Hungry race. Now I'm angling for a position helping out at Sacramento County's flu clinics.

Here's what is happening:

Sacramento County Public Health is seeking volunteers for both medical and non-medical positions for its series of H1N1 flu vaccination clinics, which run through January 15th.

Public Health’s H1N1 flu immunization clinics have vaccinated more than 14,000 area residents since they began on November 16th.

“It takes about 60 people to run each flu clinic, and more than half of the positions are staffed by volunteers,” said Glennah Trochet, M.D., Sacramento County Public Health Officer. “This is a great opportunity for available nurses, administrative assistants, and anyone from the community willing to volunteer their time for a very worthwhile effort to protect the health of our residents,” said Trochet.

Non-medical volunteers assist by giving clinic attendees the vaccine consent form they need to fill out, greeting people, keeping order in lines, and providing vaccination cards after the vaccine has been administered. Licensed medical volunteers can assist with giving vaccinations, performing medical screening and triaging people attending the clinics.

Each of the H1N1 flu vaccination clinics lasts about 6 hours, with four hours dedicated to the vaccination activities. Volunteers are expected to arrive an hour and fifteen minutes before the clinic opens it doors to receive training for their position. In addition, volunteers are needed to stay up to one hour after the clinic closes to help with clean-up and repacking supplies in preparation for the next clinic.

The county's press release says to contact Bert Bettis at (916) 875-2011 or e-mail Bettisb@saccounty.net, but you can save a step by emailing your mailing address to Tammy Liu at LiuT@saccounty.net. In return, she will mail you a package of paperwork to fill out.

I asked Liu if she could send me electronic copies of the forms so that I could save another step and just pass them out, but the paperwork is paper. In particular there is the REQUEST FOR LIVE SCAN SERVICE, which must be filled out in triplicate and taken to one of several locations around the county where they can take your fingerprints and submit them for a background check.

Liu estimates the process of clearing the background check takes three days, but there are still plenty of clinics to work in. Here's the schedule as of today:

Florin High School
Friday, December 11th Time changed to: 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
7956 Cottonwood Lane
Sacramento, CA 95828

Franklin High School
Saturday, December 12th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
6400 Whitelock Parkway
Elk Grove, CA 95757

Folsom High School
Tuesday, December 15th 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
1655 Iron Point Road
Folsom, CA 95630

St. Rose Parish
Wednesday, December 16th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
5905 Franklin Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95824

Sacramento High School
Thursday, December 17th 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
2315 34th Street
Sacramento, CA 95817

Encina High School
Friday, December 18th 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
1400 Bell Street
Sacramento, CA 95825

Rosemont High School
Monday, December 21st 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
9594 Kiefer Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95827

Natomas High School
Tuesday, December 22nd 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
3301 Fong Ranch Road
Sacramento, CA 95834

Robertson Community Center
Monday, December 28th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
3525 Norwood Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95838

Sears - Florin Mall “Drive-Thru”
Tuesday, December 29th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
7000 65th Street
Sacramento, CA 95823

St. Anthony's Church
Wednesday, December 30th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
14012 2nd Avenue
Walnut Grove, CA 95690

First Baptist Church
Monday, January 4th 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
4401 San Juan Avenue
Fair Oaks, CA 95628

Elk Grove High School
Tuesday, January 5th 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
9800 Elk Grove-Florin Road
Elk Grove, CA 95624

Grant Union High School
Wednesday, January 6th 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
1400 Grand Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95838

Sunrise Mall “Drive-Thru”
Thursday, January 7th 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
6041 Sunrise Blvd. (behind Sears)
Citrus Heights, CA 95610

Inderkum High School
Friday, January 8th 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
2500 New Market Drive
Sacramento, CA 95835

Valley High School
Monday, January 11th 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
6300 Ehrhardt Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95823

Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church
Tuesday, January 12th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
6929 Franklin Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95823

Christ Community Church
Wednesday, January 13th 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
5025 Manzanita Avenue
Carmichael, CA 95608

Chabolla Center
Thursday, January 14th 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
610 Chabolla Ave.
Galt, CA 95632

County Administration Center
Friday, January 15th 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
700 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

This list of clinics and forms you need to fill out to get a shot are online here.

Tomorrow morning I'll take my forms down to the Marconi Sheriff's substation and do the live scan and then mail off everything.