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Swift Training for Buffalo Members Follows Toronto SARS Scare
When the World Health Organization on April 23 added Toronto to its list of cities travelers should avoid because of the SARS epidemic, CWA Local 1168 in Buffalo, N.Y., and District 1 health and safety activists scrambled to protect patients, health care workers and the community.
Suspected or probable cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto numbered 324 on that day, third only behind China, with 2,305, and Hong Kong, with 1,458. The flu-like disease had killed at least 252 people and infected more than 4,400 worldwide. Fifteen deaths had been attributed to SARS in Toronto, the only western city on WHO's travel advisory.
Toronto was dropped from WHO's advisory on May 14 but reinstated on May 23. On May 26, the agency called for the quarantine of four hospitals there after officials reported 26 new suspected and eight probable cases. The rapid response of CWA and other health care workers quickly contained the disease in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting only 65 cases and one death by May 22.
More than 85 health care workers, including managers and housekeeping staff, took part in the CWA training, offered in New York City and Buffalo. They learned about the corona virus that causes SARS, how to handle specimens safely, management of people suspected of having been exposed, processing of specimens, personal hygiene and disinfection of equipment.
Local 1168 Health and Safety Director Diane Moats and the local's Dana McCarthy, a researcher with a master's degree in science, put together the training under a grant from the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board administered by District 1 Health and Safety Director Micki Siegel de Hernández.
Local 1168/Nurses United represents about 5,000 health care workers in the Kaleida Health system in the Buffalo area, about 10 minutes from the Canadian border and about 90 miles from Toronto.
Moats said health care workers have had several "rule-out" cases at Buffalo hospitals, where patients are monitored to make sure they do not have the disease. The local e-mailed members and posted the latest recommendations for health care workers on hospital bulletin boards.
Information about SARS and procedures for dealing with the corona virus are continually updated. Moats urged eligible nurses and health care workers to regularly check websites for the latest information, and Siegel de Hernández said District 1 expects to schedule at least one future training session.
"This is not something you wait a month to get right, because you could die," Moats said.
More information on SARS is available from the CDC at www.cdc.gov and WHO at www.who.int.
Suspected or probable cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto numbered 324 on that day, third only behind China, with 2,305, and Hong Kong, with 1,458. The flu-like disease had killed at least 252 people and infected more than 4,400 worldwide. Fifteen deaths had been attributed to SARS in Toronto, the only western city on WHO's travel advisory.
Toronto was dropped from WHO's advisory on May 14 but reinstated on May 23. On May 26, the agency called for the quarantine of four hospitals there after officials reported 26 new suspected and eight probable cases. The rapid response of CWA and other health care workers quickly contained the disease in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting only 65 cases and one death by May 22.
More than 85 health care workers, including managers and housekeeping staff, took part in the CWA training, offered in New York City and Buffalo. They learned about the corona virus that causes SARS, how to handle specimens safely, management of people suspected of having been exposed, processing of specimens, personal hygiene and disinfection of equipment.
Local 1168 Health and Safety Director Diane Moats and the local's Dana McCarthy, a researcher with a master's degree in science, put together the training under a grant from the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board administered by District 1 Health and Safety Director Micki Siegel de Hernández.
Local 1168/Nurses United represents about 5,000 health care workers in the Kaleida Health system in the Buffalo area, about 10 minutes from the Canadian border and about 90 miles from Toronto.
Moats said health care workers have had several "rule-out" cases at Buffalo hospitals, where patients are monitored to make sure they do not have the disease. The local e-mailed members and posted the latest recommendations for health care workers on hospital bulletin boards.
Information about SARS and procedures for dealing with the corona virus are continually updated. Moats urged eligible nurses and health care workers to regularly check websites for the latest information, and Siegel de Hernández said District 1 expects to schedule at least one future training session.
"This is not something you wait a month to get right, because you could die," Moats said.
More information on SARS is available from the CDC at www.cdc.gov and WHO at www.who.int.