Duneland Schools Lead State in MRSA Fight
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School partners with Elkhart-Based Sports-O-Zone to combat bacteria. Chesterton, IN (PRWEB) May 9, 2008 —- The Duneland School Corporation, with the purchase of the Sports-O-Zone machine, becomes the first in the State of Indiana to take steps to proactively protect its athletes from the deadly MRSA virus. After a student athlete was hospitalized last fall with a cut infected by the MRSA virus, the school administration moved quickly to insure that all precautions were being taken. Dr. David Pruis, Assistant Superintendant for Operations and Human Relations, brought a recent news story to the attention of fellow administrators. It was about Sports-O-Zone of Elkhart, IN and the machine they developed to kill the MRSA virus on sports equipment. Mark McKibben, Director of Special Services for the corporation, along with Athletic Director, Garry Nallenweg and Head Trainer, Bernie Stento, traveled to Elkhart to tour the Sport-O-Zone facility and see if this was the answer they had been looking for. Sports-O-Zone manufactures a machine that is fast becoming a solution to the problem of controlling staph and MRSA in locker rooms from high school to professional sports franchises. MRSA, a staph bacterium, is usually resistant to a variety of different antibiotics and is becoming more common with athletes. Independent testing of the Sports-O-Zone system shows that 99.9% of these bacteria are killed. Mark Eades, Director of Sales at Sports-O-Zone states "Our Company's main concern is the safety of student athletes and Duneland Schools definitely shares this philosophy." "We have an obligation to do anything we can to prevent this from happening to any of our other students. This amazing machine was just what we needed." said McKibben. The school corporation purchased two of the units, one which is at the high school and the other at the middle school. "All of our coaches and trainer have been trained to use the machine." according to Nallenweg, "and we have found many uses that were not originally considered." The schools currently use the technology to disinfect all the pads, helmets, uniforms, shoes, hats, and even the water bottles used by students. The machine is in place in the laundry facility at the high school and all towels, once washed and dried, are sent through the machine, just to ensure that no MRSA virus is present. "The process is simple and doesn't harm the equipment or fabric at all, so there really is no reason not to err on the side of caution." added Nallenweg. For more information on the Duneland Schools MRSA Prevention program, call Garry Nallenweg, Athletic Director at (219) 983-3730 or email to garry.nallenweg(at)duneland.k12.in.us. For information about Sports-O-Zone products, please contact Sports-O-Zone Toll Free at (877) 264-6062 or visit www.sportsozone.com ###
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