Protective Gear for AIDS Wards Urged

Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) urged federal officials Friday to adopt guidelines granting hospital workers the option of wearing protective garments when they care for AIDS patients.

“Until we know more about how this disease can be transmitted, we cannot, in good conscience, prohibit hospital employees from taking the steps they deem necessary to protect themselves,” Dannemeyer said.

In a letter to Margaret Heckler, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the congressman pointed out that nurses at San Francisco General Hospital have been denied the right to wear protective clothing when in “casual” contact with patients who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Four nurses at the hospital have said they were recently reprimanded for wearing gloves, masks and gowns while working around patients with the often-deadly disease. Two of the nurses have filed a complaint with the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

However, a hospital spokesman said the nurses had not been reprimanded for wearing protective garments.

“There were some problems with their professional performance, but, as far as I know, it had nothing to do with AIDS patients,” said Cliff Morrison, assistant director of nursing and AIDS coordinator at the hospital.

Morrison said the hospital’s guidelines to health-care workers treating AIDS patients follow standards established by the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Those guidelines recommend that gloves be used when handling body wastes and blood samples, but they do not advise workers to wear masks when in the presence of AIDS patients.

The disease, for which there is no known cure, destroys the body’s immune system and makes it vulnerable to a variety of infections.

AIDS is transmitted by the exchange of body fluids, such as blood, semen and waste; however, saliva has not been proven to be a transmitter of the disease.

In his letter to Heckler, Dannemeyer recommended that the department adopt regulations prohibiting federally funded hospitals from denying nurses the option of wearing protective garments.

“This regulation does not seek to discriminate against AID’s (sic) victims but to protect those who are charged with their care and the care of others,” the letter said.

Last month, Dannemeyer drew widespread criticism for hiring Dr. Paul Cameron--a psychologist who advocates quarantining AIDS-stricken gays as a means of controlling the disease--as a temporary staff consultant.