Bismarck and Burleigh County residents can receive a flu shot while participating in a vaccination exercise from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Bismarck Civic Center.

The emergency medication distribution exercise will help the community prepare to dispense medications or vaccines to a large number of people in a short time.

"We want to test the response system for a mass vaccination to prepare for an emergency," said Cheryl Underhill, health emergency preparedness coordinator for Region VII. "This exercise will help us test our ability to provide preventative medication quickly to the entire community in a bioterrorism event or other health emergency."

Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health Administrator Paula Flanders said the planning group decided to give out flu shots during the exercise. "We didn't want to be just vaccinating oranges," she said, "Plus, a public health emergency could as easily be a flu epidemic as a bioterrorism event."

Flanders urges participants to wear short-sleeved shirts and bring their Medicaid or Medicare cards, if they are eligible.

The flu shots are $12 for those not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare.

Participants should enter at door A2 on the south side of the Civic Center and allow for extra time.

"This exercise may result in additional time needed to receive the flu shots, but good attendance will increase the value of the training to the community," Flanders said.

The Burleigh-Morton Chapter of the Red Cross is helping coordinate the event. Metro Ambulance, Bismarck Police and Salvation Army also are participating.