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NORTH ATTLEBORO - It was the best they could hope for in planning a worst-case scenario.

North Attleboro health officials said Saturday's Bristol-Norfolk Medical Reserve Corps flu clinic at the town's high school - which tested mass immunization plans - went very well.

"I think it went extremely well," said Health Agent Robert Davis. "What we really wanted to find out was what we didn't think about."

Months of planning went into the clinic, the first time North Attleboro has been used as a test site for mass immunization, which would occur during a pandemic or flu outbreak - such as the avian bird flu - that would require immunization of a city's entire population within 72 hours.

The goal was to make sure officials could vaccinate people at that rate - six or seven citizens per second - and to see if volunteer and staging plans were enough. Davis and Board of Health Chairman Donald Bates both were pleased with the efficiency of Saturday's clinic, which offered free flu shots to any Massachusetts resident, children's vaccinations and pneumonia vaccinations to residents older than 65.

Nearly 800 people showed up at the clinic, just short of the 1,000 they were hoping for and were prepared to vaccinate.

They were able to vaccinate at a rate of around 5.4 people per second.

"The one thing you can never predict is how many people are going to show up for a flu clinic," Davis said. "But because this was a regional exercise, we had people from surrounding towns. We were most interested in testing our emergency skills. If we had to vaccinate people in 72 hours, this type of exercise helps us understand how we can do that best."

North Attleboro High School was turned into a temporary emergency vaccination station, with 140 volunteers designated and labeled under teams.

Separate areas were blocked off for press access, a command center and as stations for different age groups.

Citizens wanting a flu shot were led through caution-taped lines to fill out paperwork.

One problem, Davis and Bates said, was that they put the paperwork station too close to the school's entrance, creating a bottleneck of people waiting to get in.

But that was just the sort of thing they were hoping to find out.

Another problem is recruiting volunteers. Davis said estimates are that if a pandemic struck, up to 40 percent of the working population would be affected, and counting on volunteers would be tough. "So really what you need is to take what you need, and then double it," Bates said.

REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.