For troops in Iraq, shower still may be fatal

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

The military is racing to inspect more than 90,000 U.S.-run facilities across Iraq to reduce a deadly threat troops face far off the battlefield: electrocution or shock while showering or using appliances.

About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed but about 65,000 facilities still need to be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings.

The work assigned to Task Force SAFE, which oversees the inspections and repairs, is aimed at preventing deaths like that of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. He died in January 2008, one of at least three soldiers killed while showering since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Scores more soldiers suffered shocks between September 2006 and July 2008, according to a database maintained by KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor that oversees maintenance at most U.S. facilities in Iraq.

"We got a ton of buildings we know probably aren't safe and we just don't have them done yet," said Jim Childs, an electrician the task force hired to help with the inspections. "It's Russian roulette. I cringe every time I hear of a shock."



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29891090/

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Pfc. Justin Shults shows some of the burn wounds he received after being electrocuted in a shower facility in Iraq, in this photo taken in January in San Antonio, Texas. Shults suffered third-degree burns on 13-percent of his body. He is suing contractor KBR Inc. for faulty wiring of the facility.

KBR should have to pay for this and there should be criminal prosecutions for every death and injury!

[Mnemosyne]

1. KnR for greater visibility. n/t

[jtrockville]

2. "Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., called Task Force SAFE's findings troubling. "

...

About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed but about 65,000 facilities still need to be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings.

...

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., called Task Force SAFE's findings troubling. He said the task force is doing good work but said problems should have been fixed much earlier.

"Just imagine getting the news that they've done 25,000 facilities, but your son or daughter is in the 65,000 they haven't done," Casey told the AP.

Actually, I'd take comfort if my son or daughter was in one of the uninspected facilities. At least then there'd be a sliver of hope that the facility didn't have problems. What if your son or daughter was in one of the ~12,500 facilities that failed inspection but hasn't been fixed yet?

[Zhade]

3. KICK

KICK

[annabanana]

4. This has to get offa cable and onto the top of the network pages. . n/t

[Canuckistanian]

5. Have any lessons been learned here?

And I'm not talking about KBR. They'd STILL put their own grandmothers at risk if it meant making a crapload of profit.

I'm talking about politicians and the Pentagon.