LINDEN &8212; A meeting to discuss emergency planning efforts was held at the Marengo County Health Department on Thursday.

The primary discussion for the meeting was identifying members from eight different community groups to be involved in bi-monthly meetings to keep the area apprised of emergency planning efforts.

Adams said the eight different groups consist of health departments, first responders, businesses, Emergency Management Agency, government, communication, healthcare and faith-based organizations. Of those groups, only members from three of the areas were not in attendance.

After initial discussion about whom should be involved in the effort, Adams said the health departments in particular are trying to inform people about is pandemic flu.

Their goal is to make the public aware of the possibility and help them plan ahead. One way to do this is by offering mass vaccinations. Adams said their goal is to see how many people they can vaccinate in one day.

McKinney said they also offered a mass vaccination about two years in Linden.

The last mass vaccination was a chance for them to practice and determine what else needed to be done in an emergency situation.

Adams said there is a mass vaccination planned for Demopolis in October. McKinney said they will be on site to determine how a similar event might be done more efficiently should the need for one arise in an emergency.

The next meeting for the emergency planning group is tentatively set for Oct. 4, Adams said.