Mrsa
July 14, 2010
CCPOA Case Update Memo to State Board
I have been asked to provide a brief status report regarding the major cases we have pending in various legal venues. This update covers only those issues being handled by CB&M. I will prepare an update for in-house cases and PERB's within the next few days.
Furloughs - As you are aware, we prevailed in Superior Court and are presently awaiting a decision from the Appellate Court. There is no time frame the Court is required to meet relative to issuing a decision...
April 8, 2010
CDCR: New MRSA Policy & Training Procedures
CDCR HQ has issued a memo (see attached) directing all institutions to develop local MRSA procedures. Therefore, if they have not already begun, local institutional management will shortly begin to develop the local MRSA IIPPs which will include site specific issues. The statewide MRSA settlement agreement allows for local discussion regarding the content of the local MRSA OPs.
We suggest you contact your Warden as soon as possible to set up meetings for discussion regarding MRSA issues. Some areas of consideration when reviewing the local MRSA policy may include...
February 3, 2010
MRSA INFO FOR COPS AND FIREFIGHTERS
MRSA FACT SHEET FOR PEACE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS (040908, v8)
Eric L. Nelson, M.S., M.A. ©2008
elnelson@ucdavis.edu
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a staph infection which only responds to the most powerful drugs, and it can be fatal even in children (Mayo Clinic, 2007; CDC, 2001). In 2005 MRSA killed 18,650 people in the U.S. -- more than were killed by AIDS. Another 94,000 Americans sustained life-threatening MRSA infections, and MRSA has become the leading cause of soft tissue infections presented in hospital Emergency Rooms (Klevens, Morrison & Nadle, 2007). Additionally, MRSA can contribute to the worsening of other disease processes such as toxic shock syndrome, bacteremia, pneumonia, endocarditis, and osteomyelitis (Christianson et. al., 2007).
December 1, 2008
Motion to Expedite the PERB Charge No. SA-CE-1621-S File No. 035207
Please consider this letter as a 1 Motion to Expedite the above referenced charge to Board level review pursuant to PERB rule 32147.
May 7, 2008
President’s Message: May 2008
THE SILENT KILLER (from the May 2008 issue of the PEACEKeeper)
Calipatria State Prison Correctional Officer Alma Zavala never saw her killer coming.
Like all correctional peace officers working the toughest beat in California, Officer Zavala knew that at any minute she could be brutally and fatally assaulted by an inmate. And, as a 12-year veteran of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Officer Zavala was aware that both Correctional Officer Manuel Gonzalez and Youth Correctional Counselor Ineasie Baker had been murdered by inmates.
But unlike those brutal and violent assaults, Officer Zavala's killer was more insidious. Her killer was inside her own body - a staph bacteria most likely contracted while she worked as a dorm officer at the Level I facility at Calipatria. On March 15, 2008, at the young age of 45, Correctional Officer Alma Zavala died from pneumonic complications associated with clinically-diagnosed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus-more commonly referred to as MRSA.
Officer Zavala's death is the first documented death of a correctional officer due to clinically-diagnosed MRSA. It is not, however, the first time that a correctional officer has been infected by the disease. Outbreaks of MRSA at many correctional facilities have been reported for some time. Based on increased reports of MRSA occurrences among our members, CCPOA filed complaints in early 2007 with Cal/OSHA (the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health) alleging unsafe working conditions. The complaints focused on MRSA outbreaks at Folsom State Prison, although CCPOA also requested a statewide remedy against CDCR to deal with the everincreasing number of MRSA infections at prisons statewide.
In October 2007 Cal/OSHA issued four citations and a special order for violations at Folsom relating to MRSA. The proposed penalties against CDCR for MRSA-related violations totaled nearly $21,000 in fines. Of course, CDCR is appealing both the citations and the special order.
And while CDCR continues with its head-in-the-sand approach to providing safeguards against the spread of MRSA, CCPOA continues to receive weekly, if not daily, reports of additional outbreaks. Since filing our initial complaint at least 11 other employees at Folsom Prison have contracted MRSA. CCPOA was also recently made aware of further fines against CDCR for MRSA violations at the Central California Women's Facility.
Without question, the spread of MRSA is a serious concern. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 94,000 serious infections and nearly 19,000 deaths from MRSA each year. MRSA continues to plague the entire prison system statewide. And, true to form, CDCR is doing little if nothing to protect the health of our members. When Cal/OSHA issued its special citation against Folsom Prison, Cal/OSHA requested that CCPOA hold off on filing additional complaints relating to MRSA. It appears Cal/OSHA wanted to see if CDCR would correct itself in light of the serious fines levied against Folsom Prison. Based on the CDCR appeal of the citations, it does not appear that correction is likely to occur in the immediate future.
Very simply, CCPOA cannot and will not stand by while our members face serious bodily injury. Therefore, we have filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court to enforce the remedial actions ordered by Cal/OSHA - and will not wait for the appeal process to delay needed protections.
The silent killers we face are just as deadly as a convicted felon who is determined to murder a correctional peace officer. To disregard the warning signs of serious bodily harm-either by direct physical threat or by ignoring the growing evidence of a blood borne killer - is equally irresponsible. Unfortunately, that blatant disregard for the safety of correctional peace officers is exactly what we have come to expect from the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Until next month, have a safe shift.
April 25, 2008
Alaska: Prisoners, guards fear for health
Prisoners are wiping down doorknobs with bleach. Guards are wearing plastic gloves whenever they touch anything inside a cell. And inmates are telling other inmates to go see a doctor when a rash shows up on their skin.
Within the walls of Alaska prisons rumors are rampant about the dangers of a drug-resistant bacteria that can cause painful and potentially dangerous skin infections. But medical staff in the facilities say worries about the staph infection MRSA are overblown and want prisoners and guards to halt what they call misinformation.
"This is a mirror image of society's response to HIV when it first came into existence," said Roger Hale, a physician's assistant at Palmer Correctional Facility for more than 20 years. "Ignorance causes a lot of confusion and fear."
LINK - ADN.com (Anchorage Daily News)
March 20, 2008
Calipatria Correctional Officer dies from MRSA
A correctional officer who oversaw a dormitory at Calipatria State Prison died from the staph infection known as MRSA, an Imperial County official said Wednesday. Prison administrative Lt. Jorge Santana said Alma Zavala died March 15 from pneumonia, but county Public Health Information Officer Maria Peinado specified that she was clinically diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.
[…]
Zavala, 45, who had worked at the state prison for 12 years, was assigned as a dorm officer at the minimum security or Level 1 unit of the prison, Santana said. It was not known how Zavala, who worked nowhere near the prison's infirmary, could have contracted the disease. The disease occurs most frequently among people in hospitals and health-care facilities.
LINK - IVPressOnline.com (Imperial Valley Press - registration required)
