Phoenix Fire Chief Robert Khan has joined the American Lung Association as a local spokesperson for the Faces of Influenza initiative. The program is aimed to put a “face” on influenza and stress the need for annual vaccination, which is beneficial throughout the fall and winter months.

During last month's Fire-Rescue International, Khan explained why he's part of this national push for influenza vaccinations.

How many Phoenix firefighters have been vaccinated?

We took the national program and blended it with our homeland security bureau. The standard is that we immunize the first responders first if there is [biological or chemical] exposure. We used this as a scenario for mass immunization for our folks and we were able to get to almost 90% on the three shifts and staff in about a week. That's an enormously successful program for us.

Was there resistance?

The only challenge is capturing everybody. We've got almost 1,800 sworn folks in the system and over 2,000 employees. That's a heck of a number of folks to get through in a short time period. We used the battalion chiefs to manage it. We had a program manager who orchestrated it. They would take the immunizations out to the different districts. We did it early enough that we were covered for most of the flu season.

What did it cost?

It was on-duty time and the immunizations were provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The cost was minimal for the city. The pharmaceutical companies, as I understand it, give the immunizations for as low as $10 per shot. If departments don't have a grant or funding, it is not an overly expensive project for a smaller department. If you have 3,000 firefighters, then you are talking about a budget issue in this economic environment.

Are you tracking the benefits?

We are a very young fire department. The senior command officers and firefighters that are retiring are more protective of their sick leave. The newer firefighters tend to be more liberal with using their sick leave. So it is hard to weed it out. I would only be guessing to sort through those numbers.

How long does it take to get this program rolling?

The fire service is damn good at planning and moving folks around to accomplish certain tasks and strategic-level goals. Because it is a medical drill, it would be quicker to do it in a fire department than it would for public works or parks department. Ninety days is more than enough time. Maybe you can do it in 30 days if you can find a partner such as health organization or pharmaceutical company.

What advice do you have for departments considering this?

We have 57 fire stations in Phoenix. Logistically it wasn't something we could do on a shift-by-shift basis. What we learned quickly in the process is you need to have a central figure to do this, and it is going to take about a month of their time to do the logistical work of bringing together the players.

Any advice for volunteer and combo departments?

Same thing. A lot of the volunteer departments work with nurses. Find a single person to be the point of contact and project manager. Allow yourself about four hours a day for four weeks just to do the logistics. The less number of folks you have, the easier it is.

What's your relationship with the Lung Association?

It is a national program and it is the second year that they've done it. People that are in the movie industry to political figures to local public safety figures are participating. My job is not just to focus on the vulnerable parts of the community but do it as a whole. That should reduce exposure to firefighters. We will go out on an awful lot of flu-like symptoms calls that are people who didn't get the shots.

Any advice for chiefs looking to push this in their community?

Network with some of the opinion leaders that are out there. Last year, the mayor, my wife and I got our flu shots live on TV. Partner with some of the high-profile individuals in the community. Each year 36,000 people die of the flu. It is the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States.