If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call 988 or message the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Unfortunately, this is an issue that our ZHH Clinical Team sees multiple times per week. The tricky part is that GI symptoms can be high risk in the workplace, especially in the foodservice industry, and it can be hard without a doctor assessing someone to know whether they’re contagious. In general, if what they’re experiencing is consistent with their typical anxiety symptoms and nothing is new or changed, we think it’s reasonable for them to work in the short-term, but if it occurs again, we’ll generally ask for a doctor’s note clearing them to work in a foodservice setting with the ongoing vomiting and diarrhea. If any symptoms are new or changed (including more intense), we recommend keeping them out of work until symptom-free and/or a doctor’s note clearing them to work with those symptoms. Beyond that, though, we also recommend checking in with this employee and offering resources. Do you have an EAP they can use for counseling, or health insurance that covers talk therapy or psychiatrist visits? Supporting the employee with the root-cause mental health issues may go a long way in reducing absenteeism and retaining this person.
Source: ZHH
Adding Narcan to your first aid kits means you’ll need to design systems and train managers to keep it up to date. Right now, Narcan has a 36 month shelf life and should be changed out by the date of expiration. Evidence shows it can be effective for months and even years after its expiration date, though, leaving some hopeful that the dates will be extended (similar to the way COVID tests have been extended by the FDA after distribution). Because it’s proven to be effective even after expiration, when given the option of expired Narcan or none at all, you should still use it in an emergency overdose situation, but the possibility of being liable for lacking up-to-date Narcan means most organizations are working hard to ensure their supply is refreshed by the expiration date. Lean on your existing processes for expiration. If you have AEDs, their batteries and pads expire and you may already have existing processes in place that you can use as a starting point. Like AEDs, there should be one person responsible for regular checks and maintenance of your Narcan supply.
Right now, the short answer is nothing. The EPA gave the state 30 days to do testing, and they’ll likely announce more after that. The concern is nitrates from fertilizer and runoff from agricultural fields, which can cause health issues in large enough quantities. If you have a good relationship with your local health department, it could be a good time to give them a call and see what they’re hearing. If your area’s water is deemed unsafe, it’s likely to kick off a statewide remediation effort. You may not need to take any action, or you may be required to use bottled water. Boiling water doesn’t work to reduce nitrates - in fact, it actually concentrates them more, so you’d be looking into bottled water if you were told that you can’t use the water. We’re still a month away from knowing next steps, but you can start to think about and write up processes for how you’d operate with bottled water if needed. Ask your local health department to keep you updated, too, since they might be among the first to know if anything changes.
Source: (CBS)