around the uft
Being prepared for emergencies
Oct 23, 2008 12:35 PM
Goldman (seated, left) with the Federation of Nurses/UFT members at the conference.
Since hospital nurses are often designated first responders in health and safety emergencies, and visiting nurses are the eyes and ears who identify and respond to public health threats in the community, the Federation of Nurses/UFT held the first in a series of two-day health and safety training sessions on Oct. 6-7 at union headquarters to give members more support in that area.
The joint labor-management training involved more than three dozen participants — nurses, chemical workers and health service workers — from different unions around the country, as well as managers from Lutheran Medical Center and the Visiting Nurse Service. Participants learned that teamwork is crucial to success for first responders; that too often, procedures are planned by one group that has little or no knowledge of schedules, working conditions and other needs of employees in the workplace involved.
Working together are Lutheran Medical Center nurses (from left) Jane Minickene, Joan Carrig, Lucy Fuchs and Dina Grillo.
“People don’t share power; they don’t work as a team,” said Anne Goldman, Federation of Nurses/UFT division special representative, of the typical scenario. Participants learned that in one hospital, for instance, nurses were trained to use emergency response equipment that wasn’t even being stored on site. Funding for the October training was provided by the Ohio-based International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC) Center for Health and Safety, which also co-hosted the training. The UFT and ICWUC will cohost a series of these trainings in the coming months, with the second course scheduled for Dec. 9-10.
The participants take a group shot.
