The First Facility Management Blog

Last night on the TV program, 60 Minutes, Leslie Stahl presented this article on the drug resistant “superbug,” MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staph aureus). The outbreak among members of the Mt. Lebanon High School football team spread to several students and created concern among parents. Facilities staff and administrators were clearly frustrated in terms of cleaning and maintenance, and even now, there is uncertainty regarding best practices on how to respond to a MRSA outbreak.

MRSA caused nearly 19,000 deaths in the United States in 2005, according to the most thorough study of life-threatening infections caused by these bacteria, experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. Due to the serious nature of this occurrence, Mark Warner, international director of certification for Airx Laboratories, national sales manager for the Bullen Companies, and president of LMCCA has taken it upon himself to dig deeper into the MRSA situation.

“I’ve personally fielded numerous calls over the past several weeks — calls from Fortune 500 Companies, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, colleges, building service contractors, and more” says Warner. “There’s a lot of misinformation given to end users when it comes to cleaning standards in our industry. . .and with a little bit of knowledge along with the right specialty cleaning products, any organization can greatly reduce its chance of a MRSA outbreak.”

For more information on how to handle MRSA, click this link from the CDC.