Dirty Paws

[Eamonn]

Sad to report that there has been a very nasty outbreak of Hepatitiss A. In our area.

It seems to have started at a restaurant where the staff were not washing their hands after using the rest room.

I know that many of our camp sites have come a long way with improving the bathrooms. But I have to say that most of the camps that do now have running water and hand dryers still do not provide soap.

I did ask all the Scouts who went from our area to the Jamboree to carry hand sanitizer with them. We also included it in our Patrol Boxes. So that the cooks could use it before preparing any meals.

While in most cases Hepatitis is not fatal there has been one death linked to this outbreak.

Eamonn.

"A Scout is clean."

[JimmyD]

Agreed i always have some when i go camping or hunting.

[dsteele]

Eamonn:

 

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought, "what an interesting choice of words for a title," and read it.

 

It shouldn't have surprised me that it came from you.

 

However, in an appeal to your unique British sense of humor (never tell an Englishman a joke on Saturday, he'll break up the sermon on Sunday when he gets it,) I have to ask -- why not sanitize your own tongue when you're worried about the cleanliness of the cook's hands. The germs will die on your tongue when it's sanitized and in the food when it's cooked.

 

That's a double safety, my-brother

 

DS

 

PS -- just because it's on my mind and speaking of "my brother" he had an emergency appendectomy Tuesday night that didn't go well. They couldn't wake him after the surgery and had to inject him with a medicine that killed his pain-killers. Fluid had filled his lungs. He sicked it all up and is okay, but it took another 1/2 hour for the medicine (pain killers) to sink back in.

 

Poor Kid. I felt for his wife and son who were worried about "Daddy." It's still hard to think of him as a father (he's six years my junior,) but Paul is all grown up and there's not much I can do for him anymore. I've always gotten along with my brother and love him dearly.

 

Sorry . . . just spitting out what's on my mind.

 

Dave

 

Eamonn -- I know I've questioned some of your terminology, so I anticapte your questioning of mine -- "My brother" is a high compliment.

 

DS

[evmori]

I don't live real far from Eamonn & this is big news here. It seems there is more to this story than lack of hand washing, though.

 

We carry Purell and use it a lot. Most of the places we camp there is not running water so this comes in quite handy.

 

 

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Eamonn]

Ed is right.

It now seems that there may be a link to this outbreak and another down south.

A few years back there was a case where it was traced back to melons.

It seems that there were no facilities provided.

Dave.

I do hope that your brother is on the mend.

After I had an appendectomy the Doctor said that I was on no account to run the vacuum cleaner.

This was/is a rule that I have kept. It has been 18 years and I now am feeling a lot better. I feel sure that lack of small appliance usage has helped a lot.

As to the idea of Tongue Sanitation.

This is not new.

Some years back I remember Sister Mary Matthew giving my tougue a good sanitation when I had used foul language.

Sad to say while for the most part it worked. Every now and then the odd "Germ" slips out.

Eamonn.

[dsteele]

Eamonn:

 

When I read your response, I laughed out loud -- right away!

 

I'm proud to be an American.

 

I've had my tongue sanitized as well. It didn't take. Oh well, what works for some doesn't work for all.

 

My brother seems to be doing alright. Thank you for asking. I talked to him yesterday. I'll steer him away from vacume cleaners. As an extra precaution, although I understand that my appendix is doing it's nonexistant job just fine, I'll stay away from those nasty machines myself.

 

Although someday, remind me to tell you the story of how my wife convinced me that spending money on a Kirby was acceptable.

 

DS

[Owl62]

One thing we are very strict with is hand sanitation.

 

We always make sure that we have some type of handwashing device in camp. (One of those solar shower bags works very well!) And we always bring a pump bottle of antibacterial hand soap.

 

We also usually have a large pump bottle of hand sanitizer around and enourage everyone to carry small container of the same or hand wipes.

 

Anyone preparing food is required to wash their hands before, during and after and of course we have everyone wash their hands before eating and after using the latrine. And we tell them to shower or wash up before turning in. You just sleep better.

 

Most in my unit are very into cleanliness - especially handwashing.

 

Not only for cleanliness but handwashing in the best preventive measure to the spread of disease.

 

 

[River2K]

Hepatitas A does not sound like any fun.

 

We've been lucky never to have had any serious problems from contaminated food on our outings. I say lucky because I know the Scouts dont always practice perfect hygiene around the kitchen.

 

A bottle of hand sanitizer sounds like an easy way to get clean before preparing food, but does it really get the hands CLEAN? It doesn't seem to take the dirt off. I've heard of a hand washing setup that uses a 5 gallon bucket, some pieces of tubing, and a small pump, similar to that used to prime an outboard boat motor, for a hand washing station. Of course you still need a bottle or bar of soap and a towel for drying. I've never built or used one but it sounds like a "Scout-like" solution for washing up.

 

Another sidebar on hand sanitizer: I was at the last phase of my scoutmaster training this past weekend and somebody mentioned that hand sanitizer, which has a high alcohol content, can make an excellent fire starter when put on a cotton ball. I'd never thought of that. Sounded interesting. It's always cool when an item has a multi-use.

 

Ken

[FScouter]

I had to explain to the boys that hand sanitizer is not the same as soap and water. The cook would be preparing dinner and I'd check in to see how it was going. Noticing that his hands are filthy, "Son, are your hands clean?"

"Sure!"

"I mean did you wash your hands TODAY?"

"I used sanitizer, lots of it."

"So you have sanitized dirt? A Scout is clean, not just sterile. Are your hands clean?"

"I'll go wash."

"Cool."