Soap Alarm In City Firehouses

By ARI PAUL

In an effort to stop the spread of communicable diseases among its members, the Fire Department is ordering several gallons of liquid soap for each firehouse and Emergency Medical Service station and discouraging employees from sharing bar soap.

FRANK GRIBBON: Don't share the soap.

The department was finalizing its soap orders Oct. 26 and planned to issue statements to firefighters and EMS employees that if they choose to use their personal bar soap in department bathrooms they should not share it. Chief FDNY spokesman Francis X. Gribbon reported that individuals at three different firehouses had recently contracted non-fatal forms of multiple-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a strain of the illness commonly known as staph.

Union: Dept. Lagging

"The department has known about the serious life-threatening consequences of contact with MRSA's (methicillin-resistant staff infections) for a long time," said Uniformed Firefighters Association spokesman Thomas Butler. "As a patient's first contact in most medical emergencies, Firefighters need better protection from such deadly bacteria and viruses. The UFA has been lobbying for liquid soap use in firehouses for a long time. The department, as usual, is behind the times and is playing catch-up."

The department hoped the change would help it maintain a healthy workplace.

"Bar soap is okay; it just shouldn't be shared," Mr. Gribbon said. "I think they'll move towards the liquid soap in these facilities."