Social worker safety

The death of a South Texas social worker last week has sparked renewed interest in promoting safety among social workers, who deal with work related violence, including physical assault, verbal assault, harassment and the threat of assault from the people they are investigating.

The family of Sally Blackwell, the social worker who was killed, said she had received threats in her position as a program director who oversaw case workers, according to The New York Times.

A survey released last week by the National Association of Social Workers found that 55 percent of 5,000 licensed social workers said they faced safety issues on the job. Another survey found that 19 percent had been victims of violence on the job and 63 percent had been threatened.

The NASW asserts that agencies should develop safety plans to protect social workers. The plan should include:* how to recognize signs of agitation
* what to do at first signs of agitation
* code words and phrases to signal for help without increasing the client’s agitation
* format for ongoing assessment of a client’s level of dangerousness
* format for intervention including: when and how to attempt de-escalation; when and how to use non-violent self defense; when and how to call security and police; when and how to evacuate building

Preparing for bird flu

Preparations for a possible influenza sparked by the deadly H5N1 strain of avian bird flu have stepped us as federal officials ordered additional stocks of antiviral drugs and launched a new effort to develop a vaccine that could be effective against the mutating virus.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has order another 1.75 million treatment courses of the antiviral drug zanamivir, known by the trade name Relenze, and 12.4 million treatment courses of oseltamivir, known as Tamiflu. The drugs will be added to the 5.5 treatment courses already purchased for delivery to states if an influenza epidemic occurs.

The department has also authorized the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to begin working on a second prepandemic flu baccine based on the mutating H5N1 virus. The current stockpile of prepandemic vaccine is based on an earlier version of the virus and could be less effective at inducing immunity.