Dr. Daniel Varga, the chief clinical officer of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, has recently released statements about the miss handling of the Ebola situation. When Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who had taken care of his infected daughter flew to Dallas for treatment, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. Two caregivers on the team that treated Duncan, have since been infected by the virus. One of the nurses traveled on a plane to Cleveland while unknowingly contagious, so many of the other passengers have been isolated and are on observation for Ebola symptoms. Schools surrounding the area have also shut down as a precaution since many of the students were on the flight to Cleveland with the nurse. Varga has apologized for the chaos and disorganization, “unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team we made mistakes.” He added: “We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry.” Some nurses say that the symptoms were not diagnosed correctly because they were not given correct training or prep for controlling the situation. The patient was exposed to other patients for a period of time until he was moved to an isolated space, the nurses were not wearing any shoe, leg or neck covers, and they were only wearing single gloves. The nurses received optional or no training at all. Many nurses have said that Ebola has not been treated seriously enough from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A local bridal shop that the nurse went to a couple days before she was hospitalized asked for instruction from the center, but got a seemingly unconcerned answer. They were told to continue buisness as usual only to be called back a couple hours later with a suggestion to check the staff's temperature twice a day for twenty one days. The bridal shop owner says that she believes they are not taking a serious threat seriously.
I believe that although Ebola is only transmittable through bodily fluids, it should be taken seriously and with extra caution. Hospitals should be providing mandatory training for their staff, nurses should not be allowed to travel on planes right now, and anyone who may have contracted the virus or has been with anyone who has should undergo observation for symptoms. This virus has a 70% death rate and needs to be treated as a serious threat. Obama has cancelled multiple trips to oversee the Ebola response. He continually warns other nations to prepare and protect themselves from the spread of this terrible virus.
How do you think Texas is handling Ebola?
Do the schools need to be shut down?
Should we just lock ourselves in our homes at this point?
2 comments:
From what I've heard, Duncan did not have fever nor any other symptoms before and during his flight to the US—even if we had customs agents screen passengers prior to Duncan's arrival, he would've passed the test. If the US could have done anything different in response to this outbreak, it would have been to immediately brief all health/medical workers across the country on correct safety procedures if they were to encounter anyone showing symptoms of Ebola. Containment is the key here. I believe the two new cases in Texas (both nurses) could have been easily prevented if hospitals had undergone proper training. If the president is putting oversight of the Ebola response as a priority, I hope he and the HHS will work to ensure that all medical personnel—those who will be in closest contact with the diseased—are protected. This, in addition to improved airport security measures and increasing general awareness, should be enough to completely eliminate the chances of epidemic. We're pretty safe in our schools for now.
http://www.vox.com/health-care/2014/10/18/6996005/ebola-nurse-hospital-training
Here's a link to an interview with a nurse from the Texas hospital; her opinion of the hospital's preparedness is pretty negative.
Post a Comment