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Teen Actor Gets Trinity Students In A Lather
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Published: August 30, 2008
TRINITY - It's an old chestnut, something people say when they shake hands with a hero or get a debonair kiss of the hand from a celebrity dreamboat.
"I'll never wash this hand again!"
A little star power was employed Monday at Trinity Elementary School, intended to have the exact opposite effect.
Students filed into the school cafeteria wearing stickers proclaiming "Clean Hands are Cool Hands." An initiative of Hospital Corporation of America, the Clean Hands program seeks to educate grade school-age children about the importance of warding off germs through frequent hand washing.
The stickers and other promotional materials bore the likeness of Mitchel Musso, one of the stars of the Disney Channel series "Hanna Montana," and a Clean Hands celebrity spokesman.
The children got a big surprise when about halfway through the presentation, Musso strode through the cafeteria and joined the proceedings.
Monday was the official start of the Clean Hands campaign, and Musso was part of a kickoff tour that was all starting with this assembly at Trinity Elementary School.
"To be honored to kick off a national campaign with our school is kind of incredible," Principal Kathy Rushe said.
Rushe wasn't sure how Trinity was chosen, aside from its proximity to two HCA hospitals: Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, in Hudson, and Community Hospital of New Port Richey.
In addition, HCA is building a hospital, the Medical Center of Trinity, on S.R. 54, just east of Little Road. Slated to be completed in late 2010 Medical Center of Trinity will replace Community Hospital.
In any case, she was excited to be host to the event.
"Clean Hands Are Cool Hands" slogan is intended to help prevent the spread of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA - pronounced "mersa" - is a common, highly contagious bacterium that frequently inhabit a person's skin or nostrils.
As germs go, MRSA is nothing to sneeze at. It accounts for 19,000 deaths in the United States each year. Most people contract MRSA at hospitals or other health-care facilities, though 14 percent of the fatal cases are acquired in the general community.
MRSA is growing concern for the healthcare community, said Dr. Jonathan Perlin, chief medical officer for HCA. Perlin initiated the Cools Hands program and was also on the kickoff tour.
Aggressive infection prevention protocols have been in place in HCA hospitals for some time. The Clean Hands campaign, however, is the company's first public outreach program on MRSA.
It is aimed at an age group most likely to have dirty hands and most susceptible to germ-borne illness.
Along with the personal appearances and a public service announcement commercial set to begin airing in the next week, the campaign has an online home, www.cleanhandsarecoolhands.com>.
The Web site offers information for parents, educators and students.
"The teachers really appreciate it," Perlin said. "When kids use good hand hygiene, they don't miss days of school their parents don't miss days of work and the teachers don't get sick from students who are carrying infection."
Before Musso electrified the crowd, Dr. Terry Haag, who works out of Community Hospital and is a Trinity Elementary parent, used an ultraviolet light to show how prevalent germs are.
Haag borrowed a pencil from Pasco School Superintendent Heather Fiorentino, held it under the UV light and projected an image of it on a large screen.
"You see the green spots all over this pencil?" Haag said. "Those are germs."
He then stuck his own hand under the light, and it, too, was covered in green spots, presumably from the pencil exchange.
"That's pretty gross, isn't it?" Hagg said. "Can you imagine if I had gotten a piece of pizza then, and eaten it?"
Then Haag showed how simple hand washing can wash away germs.
Once Musso delivered his remarks, the teen actor and Perlin fielded a few scripted questions presented by students.
Musso said after the assembly that he and his "Hannah Montana" costars owe everything to their young fans, and this was his way of giving something back.
Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.
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