Thread: OH-Sheriff won’t be bugged by the flu

Sheriff won’t be bugged by the flu
Kits to help keep employees safe

By CHRISTOPHER BOBBY
POSTED: May 11, 2009


Tia Hazinakis, a corrections officer at the Trumbull County Jail, displays the mask and latex gloves that have been issued to deputies and jail employees in the fight against swine flu and other communicable diseases. The sheriff said the kits cost about $3.50 apiece to assemble.

Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and government officials:

- Deaths: Global total of 53 - 48 in Mexico; three in the U.S.; one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. One of those who died in the U.S. was a toddler from Mexico. Officials said the Canadian, U.S. and Costa Rican victims also had other underlying medical conditions.

- Confirmed cases, according to WHO and CDC: more than 4,500 in 29 countries, including at least 1,626 in Mexico, at least 2,532 in the United States and 280 in Canada.

- Third U.S. death was a man in his 30s in Washington state, where health officials said he had underlying heart conditions.

- Japan reported its first four cases: a teacher and three students who had been on a high school trip to Canada. Australia reported its first confirmed case Saturday.

- WHO says up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu if outbreak turns into pandemic over months or years. But WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda says it's too early to tell how widespread or severe the outbreak will become.
WARREN - The Trumbull County Sheriff's Office is trying to spread the word rather than the virus.

Road deputies and corrections officers have been issued a plastic baggie containing latex gloves, masks and goggles - new law enforcement equipment in light of the swine flu outbreak.

''We should have had this all along,'' Sheriff Tom Altiere said. ''It's available if any of our people need it. It could be hepatitis or AIDS or used at a murder scene. We've even had suspects spitting on our officers.''

Altiere said he ordered a bulkload of the new equipment and packed the bags for less than $3.50 each. ''The masks are special in that they're H1N1 (swine flu) approved,'' he said.

Even though public opinion has turned into criticism that the flu epidemic has been overhyped, Altiere still is aware that more than 900 cases have been reported in the United States, including in Ohio. And he knows that complacency can set in before a potential return of the virus this fall.

''A case has now been reported in Portage County and with a large seasonal influx of migrant workers starting now, we're trying to be prepared,'' Chief Deputy Ernest Cook III said. ''Ashtabula and Lorain counties always get a fair number of workers arriving from elsewhere to work the fields.''

Cook said it's all part of a drive to get policy and procedures in place for a pandemic plan.

He said Trumbull County Health Departments and health departments in local cities along with emergency management officials were in on recent meetings to offer input into the plan.

Cook developed a ''probable cause'' form that deputies will carry to emergency calls. The forms - in both English and Spanish - ask five questions about symptoms, contact with anyone who has been sick, and travel over the previous two months. The department intends to share the forms with other departments to standardize similar reports, he said.

''It's a red flag. A mask can be used for complainants, suspects, inmates or anyone,'' Cook said.

Inside the jail, corrections officers can use the equipment in conjunction with a clinic that features a negative pressure system that uses only air from the outside to prevent the spread of any contagious virus, he said.

Cook and Altiere point out that only Thursday, detectives arrested Efrain Olivera Hernandez, 22, at a home on state Route 5 in Warren Township and held him as a possible illegal alien for agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Hernandez was found to have no symptoms, but the sheriff pointed out ''it's better to be safe than sorry.''

cbobby@tribtoday.com

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.d ... l?nav=5021

INTERESTING! That the police know how to protect themselves. What about the general public? Are they using the 287g Program?