Update on Emcore Shooting and St. Louis VA Hospital

I have news updates on two previous posts I wrote.

The number of victims of the Emcore shootings in Albuquerque, described just below, has changed. Reports now say three dead and four injured instead of five dead. And we know now that the girlfriend, who was the target of this tragedy, is among the injured but was still alive as of Tuesday. The lesson here: I don't know where the five-dead figure came from, but be sure you have all the facts before you release them. Maybe it was the police, maybe it was the company, maybe it was a reporter's error. Be sure to get it right, especially if it's something as serious as a workplace homicide where family members anxiously await word.

On July 3, I reported possible contamination of dental equipment at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. There's more to the story, the AP reported yesterday. At a special hearing in St. Louis called by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, a former medical supply technician testified that she had reported the dental sterilization problems to the hospital a year before the facility sent letters to 1,800 veterans urging them to be tested for diseases. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100713/ap_on_re_us/us_va_faulty_procedure)

"She said that starting in March 2009, she tried to alert VA officials at the St. Louis center and in Washington about the inadequacies, but no one listened. Meanwhile, (Earlene) Johnson was fired — she believed because of the concerns she raised. She is appealing to get her job back."

My goodness! How hard would it have been for someone to check the validity of her concern? It would have saved money, saved many people's time, saved embarrassment to the hospital, and maybe saved lives. I write this over and over: Smoldering crises like this one can be prevented if we are on our guard for rumblings that could lead to an earthquake. Then take action. We will see many more aftershocks from this quake.

Further, the AP reports, Dr. George Arana of the Veterans Health Administration said 950 veterans have received free blood screenings so far. Some have tested positive for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, but the doctor wouldn't say how many and he couldn't say if the cause was infected dental equipment.