Aquatics
Outbreak Survival Guide
By Elise Knox
Finally, people actually thanked us for enforcing rules! It was amazing how supportive our patrons became as we explained why we had breaks and required showers.
The month of August was very tough for us, as the Metroplex was having a reasonable panic over the "Crypto-Scare" in the Fort Worth area. With each nightly news show, we could see our attendance dropping. Even though we made the big news stations with our prevention program, we still took a big hit in our revenue.
I did get the horrifying call from the local health department that a woman infected with crypto while she was on vacation came home and visited her doctor for treatment. She must have been feeling better, because when the health department called to check on her, they found out she had just visited our facility. We did an emergency hyperchlorination and a lot of damage control in our publicity.
Although we did not have a major outbreak, we did have one confirmed case after being exposed by the diagnosed swimmer. We now have the confidence that we took the correct precautions to prevent this parasite from becoming a devastating infection of our facility. We are currently searching the industry and hoping for a better method of testing the water—or maybe someday there just might be a way to screen our guests for crypto before they enter our facility!
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