COMMUNITY HEALTH INFORMATION FROM THE COMMANDING GENERAL My top concern is the safety of the people who live and work at White Sands Missile Range. In the interest of transparency, I wanted to let you know two citizens from West Africa are visiting a family living on post. These visitors arrived Oct. 31 after passing the mandatory health screening at Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. Neither individual has any symptoms or reported contact with anyone infected with Ebola; however, in accordance with the national precautionary standards currently in place, they were issued thermometers and directions on self-reporting their temperatures twice a day during their stay in the U.S. As an additional precautionary measure, I directed our McAfee Medical Clinic personnel to assess the visitors when they arrived on post and to monitor the daily temperature checks. The visitors have been very cooperative and will avoid populated areas, to include the White Sands elementary and middle schools, Child Development Center, PX, pool, Club and other areas where people congregate during the monitoring period as an extra preventative measure. An estimated 1,000 people from West Africa visit communities throughout the U.S. every week. Since August, only 1 was diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. We are being exceptionally prudent with the implemented precautions here at WSMR, which exceed national and state guidelines, because we understand the concerns surrounding this disease. While Ebola is serious and we must remain vigilant, we cannot lose context of the facts. There have been 9 cases of Ebola in the U.S., of which only 1 case resulted in death. To put that in context, the Center for Disease Control estimates 53,286 people died in the U.S. from flu and pneumonia in 2011. If you havent received your flu shot, the McAfee Medical Clinic is offering flu shots on a walk-in basis Monday to Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Team WSMR is prepared to act quickly if any changes occur. You will continue to receive clear and transparent communication from me and all of the senior leadership on post. If there is any updated information, we will send the information out quickly through the following outlets: - Post-wide Email - Facebook: facebook/WSMRPublicAffairs - Flyers located at public areas on post - Information Hotline: 575-674-INFO(4636) - Town Halls at the Post Theater - Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. - Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. - Thursday, Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. The precautions we are taking are well above both the U.S. and New Mexico state standard. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask your leadership or attend a town hall meeting. Attached is an information sheet on Ebola for more information.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:12:56 +0000
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