Calipatria correctional officer dies of MRSA
By SILVIO J. PANTA, Staff Writer
CALIPATRIA — 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.
Santana also declined to state where Zavala died citing concerns over confidentiality, but Peinado said the correctional officer died at El Centro Regional Medical Center...Asked why he was unclear about Zavala’s death, Santana said he was mistaken in saying anything since he couldn’t divulge too much information about her.
“I did that in error,” Santana said.
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.
Elise Bryant, spokeswoman for El Centro Regional Medical Center, said Zavala did not acquire the MRSA infection at the hospital and there are no similar MRSA cases in the hospital.
While Santana reassured that showers, restrooms, bathrooms, kitchens — and even doorknobs — are disinfected on a frequent basis, the prison is not specifically targeting Zavala’s work area for any heightened precautions...“We’re not in a panic,” Santana said. “We’re taking precautions, not just for MRSA but all and any communicable diseases like hepatitis...(Full text at ivpressonline.com)
This is truly a sad and disturbing story. As we offer our condolences to Officer Zavala's family and friends, this tragedy serves to remind us of the reality of MRSA.
The gravity of the story aside, Paco is concerned over Lt. Santana's alleged gaffe. Could it be the prison initially reported Zavala expired from "pneumonia" in order to cover up the actual cause? Hopefully not. However, Santana's later comments are so reckless and seemingly cavalier, one has to wonder.
Frankly, when a staff member dies from a work-presumptive infectious disease, one expects official statements of the most serious and cautious nature. "We're not in a panic" falls way short when reassurances all precautions are being taken are the order of the day.
When a Public Information Officer issues public statements "in error," it is prudent to review the books to verify the PIO appointment wasn't in error as well.
12 comments:
IF IT IS NOT A JOB RELATED DEATH THEN WHAT BUSINESS DOES CALPAT HAVE ANNOUNCING THE DEATH OF STAFF? IF SHE HAD DIED OF LUNG CANCER WOULD THE PIO HAVE AUTHORITY TO DISCUSS IT? HELL NO! THEY KNEW SHE DIDN'T DIE OF PNEUMONIA. THE PIO DIDN'T MAKE AN ERROR HE LIED. THE ADM KNOWS MRSA IS INSIDE AND WANTED TO COVER THIS UP.
BULLSHIT!
The pio at any instituition, in reality is just a young promotion whore, who would do anything, say anything to make his/herself look good, and, the warden, in exchange for promtion. They often "soften" or downplay most news events because these events are directed at the public. pio stands for Pathetic Imbecile Offspring.
I confess to being conflicted about this one. I find it difficult to believe that even the dullest CDCr manager, administrator or mouthpiece therefor would be so stupid as to deliberately issue a known-to-be false statement about the death of an employee under these circumstances.
Then again when I calmly reflect on some of the grotesque, venal, self-serving lies, damn lies, outright perjury and in-your-face stupidity that occasionally graces these "pages" originating from CDCr, I think maybe it really is a deliberate, albeit clumsy attempt to hide culpability in a very nasty staff death. Damn, that sucks.
I'm sad to hear one of our own has pass away. My sadness is felt for her family and friends. I'm sorry for your loss.
Santana comments relative to Officer Alma Zavala's death seems cold at best, if not an out-right lie, but most statements from mgt. are as cold as a mother-in-laws love. Why not let it be known what MRSA is really about?
Ask any competent health care provider and they will tell you MRSA is everywhere. They also seem to agree MRSA has developed from the over use of antibiotics. So, it seems our best defense against MRSA is a healthy, well working immune system. Stay strong, get plenty of rest, and try not to get stressed-out (no joke).
Folks, pneumonia means an infection in the lungs. MRSA is a kind of germ. It can cause pneumonia, abscesses, meningitis, sepsis (blood poisoning) - all kinds of infections.
So it's not inaccurate to say that somebody died of pneumonia, not saying what the germ was.
Sort of like saying somebody died of blunt force trauma without specifying the kind of weapon. Sure, you might care that it was batteries in a sock rather than a boot-stomping, but it's not deceptive or inaccurate.
Have we got any Public Information Officers reading this 'blog who would care to comment on Anon 8:54's post?
PC'trol
10:56-
No one is questioning that pneumonia was the actual fatal blow nor that it was caused by MRSA--the question is why the PIO commented at all, much less inaccurately. MOREOVER, the fact that the PIO apologized for the statement proves it WAS "inaccurate to say that somebody died of pneumonia."
While attending the union president meeting on friday. An offficer from calpat who was a partner to this officer stated that the department said she came in contact with mrsa at the hospital where they have not had a single report of the infection. However, 2 inmates within that facility that this officer had worked had reported to have the infection. Cover-up by administration! Yeah i think so...
Anonymous 1141, you truly are an idiot. I do not know what happened at Calipat, but a person died and the PIO is admitting a mistake was made. When it comes to medical, particularly with staff sometimes the correct info does not always get reported immediately or correctly. Who knows. None of us though. Isn't the PIO still an Lt? Probably a CCPOA member too. Give him a break. Maybe the guy really did just step on his self. Give him the benefit. He may have been given the bad info to start with. MRSA is everywhere. Who knows where the officer contracted it. There will be an investigation and all the finger pointing wont help any of the officers family or friends. And to label PIO's or any person in positions without knowing the person, merely shows yours ignorance. You obviously have been passed up on a few promotions, if you passed the tests, or denied specialty positions, due to your inabiity to handle situations with tact. By the way it is absolutely the job of the PIO to make the Warden look good and downplay negative events that attract public attention. DUH, HELLO. Many times this is for the benefit of not only the Warden, but for all staff including the idiots like you. Now would be time you get back on and call me a name like the Wardens kid or something like that. I'll be sitting on the edge of my seat.
I e-mailed the author of the article, Silvio Panta and recieved the following response. He would like to follow up on this, but doesn't want to simply publish more CDC(r) misinformation. Any of you who work at Calipat may want to give him a call.
"I questioned Jorge Santana after learning the county public health dept. confirmed that Alma Zavala had died from MRSA. Apparently, Mr. Santana was not forthcoming with the facts and mislead me with what he initially said. I'm going to start making some calls but I need to know if there's a source of information that can be tapped into for me to do some relevant news reporting. Thanks.
"Silvio Panta (760) 337-3442"
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Centurion
MY HUSBAND IS THERE, ON LEVEL 1. THERE ARE AT LEAST A HALF DOZEN OF THESE CASES BEING COVERED UP. SOMEONE NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE THIS FURTHER.
My husband is housed there, also. I am very concerned. He already has an illness and had to be hospitalized. I rather have him home where it's clean and sanitized. He definitely, should qualify for early release.
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