A major concern regarding a deadly staph infection known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is crossing the country. This particular strand of staph infections does not respond to antibiotics and can become fatal. There have been several outbreaks of the infection in schools and is becoming an increasing problem. I will look at one school's public relations response to an outbreak of MRSA, according to the methods of Guth and Marsh. Staunton River High School located in Bedford, VA, was one of the first schools to have a student die from the infection, 17-year-old Ashton Bonds died Monday, October 15, 2007 from the infection. You can read a full article about the case here.
Research: Although I could not find evidence that the school did conduct formal research, I can guess that some research was most likely done by school officials. They probably would have gathered as much information on the infection in order to effectively handle both the students, parents and media. The school provided useful information on their website to their audiences about the staph infection that came from medical sources.
Planning: This school did not seem to have a contingency plan immediately in place regarding the staph infection outbreak. School officials attempted to reach out to students, parents, and community members, but failed to address the sanitary issues in the school. In response to a protest by students on Tuesday October, 16, the Bedford County Public Schools Superintendent closed all 22 schools for a thorough cleaning, The extent of the cleaning is described in this article. The school also plans to regularly clean the school in order to prevent any future breakouts of infection.
Communication: The school communicated effectively to the responses of the students, parents, and community members. They posted important announcements and information about MRSA on their website. The Superintendent made formal announcements in a news conference as reported here, and the Principal is also featured on this video found online. Tactics that school officials completed in response to the case were also shown on television and in print media. The school and district officials listened to their audience's concerns and were able to communicate through a variety of tactics and communication channels.
Evaluation: Short term evaluation of the school's actions are shown in this article which states attendance at Staunton River High School was down on Thursday, October 18, when the school reopened after the cleaning. The case is new, therefore, any long term evaluation, like the upholding of regular school cleanings, will have to be evaluated at a later time.
Overall, I think that the Staunton River High School responded to the MRSA outbreak well. It is difficult to plan for something so unexpected, however, by creating many communication tactics and channels to pass on information about both MRSA and what actions the school is taking against the outbreak, the school was able to keep their audiences up to date. By also immediately taking action to the student's protest, students felt as though their concerns and opinions were taken seriously which will create respect for school and district officials.
This case also warns of the dangers of MRSA. Remember to take your hygiene into careful thought in order to prevent this outbreak within our own Marist communinty and also seek immediate professional medial assistance if you show any signs or symptoms of this infection.
6 comments:
Staunton did a great job of effectively relaying their message in a timely manner and through the correct means of communication. By holding a press conference it allows all the information to be given out at the same time to everyone. Also, it allows for questions to be asked. With a situation like this with so many people involved, rumors can very easily be thrown around. Before you know it, the whole town is in hysteria over a rumor. By allowing reporters to ask questions at the press conference, rumors are cleared up and killed.
The website is also a key element in this situation. It gives parents the peace of mind that something is being done. I think it's a great tool for parents, teachers, and staff.
I just think this scary. Recently I went to Syracuse University and had a meet there, however, the swimmers of the team went to a local high school where it was said that Staph had broke out!! I was like, ARE YOU SERIOUS!? Of course, none of us have been affected by it, as so we all think, but let me tell you...the thought of one of us getting the infection and then driving back to Marist another four hours was just scary.
However, like said before, great job with the article and giving us a chance to know how badly it's gotten. Very informative! I just wish there was something that we could do here at Marist so we know it doesn't come here...hell, that's the LAST thing we need..especially after Caitlyn a few years back.
MRSA is so scary. I have been hearing about it so much lately, and we all received that email that it was going around with some students in they gym. Whether I am playing basketball or working out, I am in the gym about 5 days a week, and the fact that MRSA is around is scary as hell! How can you avoid this? Sure they say wash your hands, clothes, and shower right after leaving the gym, but what if it gets into you quicker?
Why hasn't Marist posted anything about MRSA on our website under "News?" If students here have it or are at any risk, should we publicize it? Would that be good PR or would that be bringing up something negative we were not asked to discuss?
Thanks, Liz. As others have pointed out, this is a scary issue. Organizations like Staunton River HS need proactive public relations programs to quell the crisis and keep rumors from making matters worse.
Your very thorough analysis suggests that Staunton River HS did just that -- its proactive, multimedia communication campaign seems right out of the crisis communication text book. There are numerous messages in this case that are designed to show action and reassure the publics. I liked the way that the HS used various channels and tactics to reach the key audiences, too. Reading one of the articles that you linked us to, I found a copy of the letter that the HS superintendent sent to parents and guardians of students. The letter explained what the HS was doing and provided health information about protecting against the spread of MRSA.
Responding to Dan's comment, I couldn't find any links to MRSA information on the Marist Web site, but I did receive a MARFAC e-mail message about MRSA and how to protect against it.
Regards,
Mark
This seems to be a scary disease that could affect anyone if we are all not careful. Like the others, I think that the school did a good job of informing their publics what MRSA is. Using the website is a great tool because, in this day, so many people will use that as their first resource. One thing that I found funny is that, now that this happened, the school said they are going to do regular cleanings. Were they not cleaning the school before this happened? I'm sure some parents are thinking the same thing.
As far as evaluation, I would think that there will be some parents who will not send their children back to that school. Sometimes, no matter how much PR is done, parents cannot be convinced when their children's lives are at risk.
As everyone else has commented, MSRA is one scary thing.
A girl in my Comm. in Society class reports for the Circle, and she said they tried to do an article because there have been a few cases at Marist that NO ONE knows about (eek!),including members of the football team that may have contracted the virus from the turf or from towels in the locker room.
What concerns me as a student is Marist's decline by both Health Services as well as President Murray's office to comment, which calls Marist's PR tactics into question bigtime. Wouldn't Marist want to inform their students as well as parents of what, if anything, is going on with this virus, especially since students at other schools have died! (double eek) This is a major NO-NO in public relations, as Jim Fahey has drilled into all of our heads. Maybe Tim Massey should take a peek into a COM 371 class from time to time; this is pretty disappointing.
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