The first incidents involved two private parties at their flagship Dave’s Diner in Des Moines. Reports of ill customers reached the restaurant as local emergency rooms began taking in seriously and suddenly ill patients of all kinds — children, older adults, a cross-section of individuals from the community. A local radio station, apparently tipped off by an ER worker, sent a local freelance reporter to several emergency rooms in the area to interview both staff and victims. The reporter, almost immediately, began doing live broadcast interviews with victims and their families.
Before long, more than a dozen victims were reported to be in critical condition, two of them on life support equipment. The vast majority of victims were suffering symptoms ranging from explosive diarrhea to upset stomachs,
As with any such situation, Dave’s Diner was required to make certain notifications immediately, thus involving government agencies and other civil authorities.
With very little information to go on, is the owners of Dave’s Diner organization were almost immediately facing very serious public questions, most requiring some affirmative action, now. They were required to take actions and make decisions with very little information; meanwhile, negative visibility was growing by the minute. For a family company which had built up decades of good will, this was a very stressful situation.
Although it appeared that only is the store in Des Moines was involved, media coverage seemed to be uncovering individuals with health issues who ate at other stores in the chain in the past few days. Almost immediately, customer victims began calling the restaurant to find out who was going to pay for trips to the doctor and other situations in which these individuals and families found themselves. As news of the situation spread across the media, restaurants in other locations and states were beginning to receive calls from local news outlets.
The questions came fast and furious: How many victims are there? What are their conditions? How many hospitals are they being treated in? Is there any sense of the cause? What is the company doing about victim care, determining the causes, working with health authorities? How many stores will the company close until the mystery is resolved? Will the company take financial responsibility for the victims? How difficult is it going to be for victims to be compensated and taken care of?