The New York Times - July 3, 1983
Franklin Whitehouse

There is also protective clothing to be worn by officers who deal with inmates who have contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Modeled at a recent news conference by two corrections officers, the uniforms resemble a paper surgical gown and a one-piece snowmobiler's suit.

The one-piece garment, made of black quilted nylon with hood, weighs about six pounds and is lined with fire-resistent prison mattress covers. It is designed to be worn by corrections officers who must subdue unruly prisoners. Rubberized work gloves and a police riot helmet with plastic face shield complete the outfit.

Asked if he would feel safer wearing the suit over his uniform, Officer Christopher Vetere said, "Yes, we have some form of protection now." He added, however, in response to a question, that he had not felt physically threatened by an AIDS patient so far.

Officer Vetere and a colleague, Officer Roger S. King, are assigned to the Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, where three AIDS victims are being treated. The three are inmates from state institutions.

The second garment, a yellow paper surgical gown with cap and mask of the same material, was modeled by Officer King, who also wore thin surgical gloves. Officer King's outfit is for use in routine contact with and transportation of AIDS victims.

No inmates with AIDS are currently in the county's jail or penitentiary, according to Corrections Commissioner John J. Maffucci, who attended the news conference, held in County Executive Andrew P. O'Rourke's conference room at the County Office Building in White Plains.

"So far, there isn't any problem at all," Commissioner Maffucci said. In an interview after the news conference, he said that the protective suits had been provided "because the officers are concerned about being bitten or spit upon by a patient with AIDS."

According to medical experts, there is no known cause of the disorder nor is there any known cure. Experts say that AIDS is transmitted only through sexual contact or blood transmission. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, homosexuals account for 71 percent of its victims, intravenous drug users for 17 percent, Haitians for 5 percent and hemophiliacs 1 percent.

Thirteen cases of AIDS have been treated in Ward 29, the prison ward at the medical center, since last November. Seven of the patients reportedly died after their release, Commissioner Maffucci said, one of them in Florida, apparently from infection following a tooth extraction.

Dr. Anita S. Curran, the county's Health Commissioner, told the news conference that a request for the suits, which are manufactured by imates for $18 each in the pentitentiary's tailor shop, came from corrections officers.

"They find many times that the patients they deal with are very angry, very hostile," Dr. Curran said. Mr. O'Rourke, who has established a Task Force on Corrections and AIDS, said that patterns for the uniforms would be provided free of charge to any governmental group that requests them. Mr. O'Rourke also said that the videotape, produced to allay officers' fears and answer their questions about the disease, also would be made available to other corrections groups.

A second tape is being made for showing to prisoners, "to help them not be scared to death, to help them protect themselves as best they can," said Dr. Curran. Brochures with questions and answers on the disease will also be circulated to inmates.

Commenting on AIDS in prisons, Dr. Gary P. Wormser, chief of the infectious disease section at the medical center, said of the inmate population:

"You're a young man with a 30 to 50 percent probability of having used intravenous drugs at some point and combining that with about a 30 percent probability of engaging in some sort of homosexual activity in prison itself - putting all these factors together, you're dealing with a very high-risk population."

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