Okla-homey
2/20/2011, 07:53 PM
at Tulsa County's David L. Moss Correctional Center.
The obvious observation is; as if being in jail isn't already sh***y enough, now this.
Frankly, methinks that being in the Tulsa County hoosegow, with a raging case of the puke-squirts, may be God's way of telling you some fundamental life changes are indicated.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=17&articleid=20110219_16_A15_Awaveo902267
Tulsa Jail reports 350 inmates sick
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 2/19/2011 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 2/19/2011 6:23 AM
A wave of illness that hit the Tulsa Jail on Wednesday night left as many as 350 inmates complaining of stomach cramps and diarrhea by Friday, the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office reported.
"It started Wednesday night, then we had a significant uptick Thursday that continued to increase throughout the day," Undersheriff Brian Edwards said. "Now it is starting to trend back down."
Edwards said the Tulsa City-County Health Department was called to assist Thursday.
"That's part of our standard operating procedure," he said.
No inmates had been hospitalized or admitted to the jail's infirmary because of the outbreak, he said.
The jail's population Friday was listed as 1,511. Edwards said sick inmates had been reported in 17 of the jail's 22 pods.
"It is generally affecting our general-population pods where inmates have the most movement within the facility," he said.
Melanie Christian, a spokeswoman for the Health Department, said a team of epidemiologists, or disease investigators, was at the jail.
"They are getting food and water samples and interviewing inmates who are ill," she said.
The samples were sent to Oklahoma City for testing Friday, but results are not expected until next week.
For the past nine months, the jail has been using mobile kitchen equipment to prepare inmates' food while renovations to the jail's kitchen are completed.
The renovations were prompted in part by a 2008 state Health Department inspection that cited three deficiencies in the jail's old kitchen.
They included gaps between the walls and floors because of a lack of base molding and steam leaks from fittings and valves; failure to meet drainage standards caused by the lack of base molding; and missing tiles.
The local Health Department's latest food inspection report, dated Dec. 6, found the jail to be in compliance but also included four warnings.
Among the concerns cited in the report were food not being properly thawed; a hand sink used to store a dirty drink cup and fruit; and many pans of prepped food stacked in a walk-in cooler for later use without date markings.
Christian stressed that inspection results for any kitchen can vary from day to day and that it was too early to tell whether food preparation had anything to do with the outbreak.
Chief Deputy Michelle Robinette, who oversees the jail's operation, said it does not appear that the inmates have the flu.
"So we're not prescribing medication," she said. "It's kind of what you do with a child or an adult (who has diarrhea): you stay close to the potty, stay in bed, and drink lots of fluids."
A similar incident occurred at the jail two years ago. Officials determined then that the illness was brought into the jail by an inmate.
Each jail pod has its own air-handling unit, and each pod is cleaned daily, Edwards said.
Anyone booked into the jail receives a prebooking physical screening by the arresting officer.
"If an individual is going to be assigned to a housing unit, then they are given a full health screening by a nurse," he said.
"And if an inmate is in the jail for 14 days, prior to the 14th day, they are given a complete physical exam."
The obvious observation is; as if being in jail isn't already sh***y enough, now this.
Frankly, methinks that being in the Tulsa County hoosegow, with a raging case of the puke-squirts, may be God's way of telling you some fundamental life changes are indicated.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=17&articleid=20110219_16_A15_Awaveo902267
Tulsa Jail reports 350 inmates sick
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 2/19/2011 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 2/19/2011 6:23 AM
A wave of illness that hit the Tulsa Jail on Wednesday night left as many as 350 inmates complaining of stomach cramps and diarrhea by Friday, the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office reported.
"It started Wednesday night, then we had a significant uptick Thursday that continued to increase throughout the day," Undersheriff Brian Edwards said. "Now it is starting to trend back down."
Edwards said the Tulsa City-County Health Department was called to assist Thursday.
"That's part of our standard operating procedure," he said.
No inmates had been hospitalized or admitted to the jail's infirmary because of the outbreak, he said.
The jail's population Friday was listed as 1,511. Edwards said sick inmates had been reported in 17 of the jail's 22 pods.
"It is generally affecting our general-population pods where inmates have the most movement within the facility," he said.
Melanie Christian, a spokeswoman for the Health Department, said a team of epidemiologists, or disease investigators, was at the jail.
"They are getting food and water samples and interviewing inmates who are ill," she said.
The samples were sent to Oklahoma City for testing Friday, but results are not expected until next week.
For the past nine months, the jail has been using mobile kitchen equipment to prepare inmates' food while renovations to the jail's kitchen are completed.
The renovations were prompted in part by a 2008 state Health Department inspection that cited three deficiencies in the jail's old kitchen.
They included gaps between the walls and floors because of a lack of base molding and steam leaks from fittings and valves; failure to meet drainage standards caused by the lack of base molding; and missing tiles.
The local Health Department's latest food inspection report, dated Dec. 6, found the jail to be in compliance but also included four warnings.
Among the concerns cited in the report were food not being properly thawed; a hand sink used to store a dirty drink cup and fruit; and many pans of prepped food stacked in a walk-in cooler for later use without date markings.
Christian stressed that inspection results for any kitchen can vary from day to day and that it was too early to tell whether food preparation had anything to do with the outbreak.
Chief Deputy Michelle Robinette, who oversees the jail's operation, said it does not appear that the inmates have the flu.
"So we're not prescribing medication," she said. "It's kind of what you do with a child or an adult (who has diarrhea): you stay close to the potty, stay in bed, and drink lots of fluids."
A similar incident occurred at the jail two years ago. Officials determined then that the illness was brought into the jail by an inmate.
Each jail pod has its own air-handling unit, and each pod is cleaned daily, Edwards said.
Anyone booked into the jail receives a prebooking physical screening by the arresting officer.
"If an individual is going to be assigned to a housing unit, then they are given a full health screening by a nurse," he said.
"And if an inmate is in the jail for 14 days, prior to the 14th day, they are given a complete physical exam."