Putnamville staff roll up sleeves to stay healthy

Friday, November 29, 2013
Courtesy photo
Correctional Officer Angela Taylor (right) rolls up her sleeve for Kroger pharmacist Michelle Schumm during a flu shot clinic at the Putnamville Correctional Facilty.

PUTNAMVILLE -- Prison staff rolled up their sleeves for inoculations from Kroger pharmacists Michelle Schumm and Nick Madison during a two-day Flu Shot Clinic at the Putnamville Correctional Facility (PCF).

"It's cost effective to be proactive rather than reactive," PCF Superintendent Stanley Knight said.

"Being reactionary in this instance," he added, "means that the virus has spread from offender to offender, from offender to employee, or vice versa, over extending our healthcare workers, increasing medical expenditures and creating staff shortage."

Knight further exp-lained that by making the shots easily accessible to staff, more might take advantage of the opportunity, thereby reducing the number of staff call-ins for flu-associated illness.

Schumm reported that the most frequent question asked by PCF staff was, "Will the shot immunize me to all the different strands of flu?"

Her response was: "There are four strands of flu going around. The shots that we are giving will immunize you against three of them."

Three out of four seemed pretty good odds for Correctional Officer Angela Taylor who was one of the first to roll her sleeve up.

"I pat down visitors every day," Taylor commented, "and I don't want to carry anything home that might make my kids sick. For me, it's about keeping them healthy."

Flu shots are just one of the ways the prison is trying to combat staff illness

Offenders assigned to "sanitizing" work lines wipe door handles and sanitize high-traffic areas throughout the facility each day, while offenders, staff and visitors are encouraged to wash and sanitize hands frequently.

In conjunction with the clinic, Putnamville also hosted a Health Fair and Fitness Walk.

Fitness walk participants donned T-shirts that were sold to generate funds for donation to the National Guard Armory Family Readiness Group, an organization that supplies food to military families.

The events were organized by Chris Williams and the facility's Promoting Positive Culture in Corrections committee members.

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