Salmonella Update

You may be aware that there is a current product recall issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for peanut butter, and products containing peanut butter. The reason is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have traced sources of Salmonella contamination to a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA manufactures peanut butter and peanut paste—a concentrated product consisting of ground, roasted peanuts—that are both distributed to food manufacturers to be used as an ingredient in many commercially produced products including cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream. In addition, PCA peanut butter is distributed to and institutionally served in such settings as long-term care facilities and cafeterias.

The FDA announced on Jan. 22, 2009, that it has established a database that will allow the public to search for a particular product to determine if has been included in any recall due to potential contamination. The link for this web site is: www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

This webpage will also detail how to gain information about all levels of the product recall and public remedy for this group of products.

Salmonellosis is a disease caused by ingestion of food contaminated with various forms of the Salmonella bacteria. The infection involves the gastrointestinal tract, with most people experiencing abdominal cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. The course of the infection is 4 to 7 days and most people recover fully. The CDC’s web site provides information regarding Salmonella and salmonellosis.

Consult either of these sites for the most accurate and updated information regarding this outbreak.

Long Beach Memorial Occupational Medical Services (MOMS) Facility has Moved!

In case you haven’t heard our occupational medical services provider, MOMS, moved last December. As many of you know, their former location was on the 5th floor of the Harriman Jones Building located on 2600 Redondo Avenue. They have now moved back to Long Beach Memorial Hospital which is located at 2801 Atlantic Avenue. An e-mail announcement detailing the move was sent to all ASM’s in November 2008.

MOMS will continue to provide the same scope of services and hours of operation as they did at the Harriman Jones Building. All applicable forms are on the SRM website

If you have any other questions, please contact the campus Workers’ Compensation Coordinator, Cheryl Velasco, at ext. 52366 or e-mail her at cvelasco@csulb.edu.

What to Do When the Alarm Sounds (Or When It Doesn't)...

We’ve all got a memory of grade school, when the fire alarm would sound, and our teachers would have us line up, walk out of our classrooms, and on to the playground where the Fire Marshal was standing with the Principal, waiting to see how we performed.

Nothing has changed since that time! When a building alarm sounds, your first thought shouldn’t be” I wonder who pulled the alarm?” but “it’s time to evacuate swiftly and carefully”.

Our campus has volunteer Building Marshals to assist occupants in safely evacuating a given building. Does your building have a Building Marshal? If not, here’s an opportunity to volunteer and help your colleagues in an emergency. Contact University Police at ext. 54101 to find out when the next Building Marshal training will be offered.

Your supervisor, Department chair, or classroom instructor should go over your building’s details for evacuation at least once per semester, preferably prior to each of the evacuation drills the university conducts (one per semester). A rally or muster point should be predetermined where you can all meet after the evacuation to take a roll call. The general primary staging areas for evacuations are the:

• Upper campus “quad” area
• Lower campus athletic fields

When told to evacuate, pick up your belongings (specifically your purse, briefcase, backpack, etc.) and leave the building from the closest useable exit…DO NOT USE AN ELEVATOR! Move away from the building at least 50 feet and be sure to meet at your presdesignated muster point or the general staging areas whichever is closer.

In certain cases, you may be notified of an emergency by the campus Emergency Notification System (ENS). This system does not engage the building alarm, but notifies all campus constituencies using the contact information found on the MyCSULB website. This contact information (cell phone, pager, campus telephone, e-mail, home telephone) will provide immediate information regarding the nature of the emergency…please make sure it is current! A notice to “shelter-in-place” may be received by this system. In that case, follow the instructions provided in the notice, by your supervisor, or classroom faculty. An all clear notice, or notice to evacuate, will be broadcast using the same notification system.

For more information, go to the university web site, and access the following link: http://emergency.csulb.edu/guides/evacuation/