Has anyone developed any procedures for their employees in dealing with the possibility of an antrax exposure that you would share?

In our newspaper, a bank, very close to us, received a shipment of coins from the Fed with a white powder substance in it. All legal officials were notified and the branch is closed until further notice.

I was asked if I had developed any procedures and/or training for our employees, especially the tellers. I have not. I have read the articles listed but I have not seen any specifically to exposure other than through the mail.

What is everyone else doing? Thanks for your help.

The California Highway Patrol is offering a training video on Biological Threat Safety. It is free and you can check out the transcript of the video at their website www.chp.ca.gov.

I have just received the video and will review it tomorrow.

KK, thank you for the link, but when I bring it up, I only get a blank page, although it says California Highway Patrol at the top. Is there a phone number to request a copy? Or could you try sending the link again?

Thanks for your help.

For a copy of the Anthrax Training Video, please FAX a request on company letterhead to the CHP at 916.657.8720.

I have been under the impression that anthrax spores cannot survive past the antibacterial agent used on currency. Can anyone confirm that?
If that's not the case, I guess we should all be looking at employee training on this matter!

Don't worry about anthrax on money
By RYAN ALESSI
Scripps Howard News Service
October 26, 2001

WASHINGTON - While anthrax in the mail has infected postal workers in Washington, D.C., and several other spots along the East Coast, health experts say the chances of the bacteria causing a widespread outbreak through other circulated material, such as money, is slim.

While the spores might be hardy enough to survive the mails, they are not small enough to engrain into the paper of dollar bills and survive being passed from transaction to transaction, health officials say.

The inhaled form of anthrax, which killed a photo editor in Florida and two postal workers in Washington, is more serious, more difficult to detect and kills swiftly, often within days of the initial exposure. But money would be a poor vehicle to spread that form of the bacteria, says Dr. Robert Ellis, bio-safety officer for Colorado State University and microbiology professor at the Fort Collins campus.

"If you had a bunch of money that was dusted with that - and I mean really dusted - the first person to handle it might have a problem with it. But I just don't see it happening further down the line," Ellis said. "By the time it got passed around, the anthrax would not be present for very long."

------------------
Andy Zavoina
Opinions stated are not necessarily that of my employer.