Ebola round 2
- Thread starter ecoli73
- Start date
- Status
Hello; I will break "this" into parts.
1) I feel we got very lucky with the events surrounding the infected Mr. Duncan. Not sure the clock is truly expired (42 days from the last possible exposure), but the odds are no more infections will arise from that episode.
2) A golden opportunity and period of grace for the authorities and medical honchos to try to work out the problems that episode exposed. From watching them thru the filter of the media, I doubt the needed lessons have been learned just yet. I still sense a great deal of hubris. That is, a sense of dismissal about the astounding role luck played and a continuation of the overconfidence.
3) I suspect there will be an erosion of the more strict quarantine rules for a time. We have already discussed both sides of that issue. There will be a number of people traveling to and from the "Ebola hot zones" and the faction wanting minimal monitoring seem to have control for now. I even saw some media hype a while back from NY citing how the protocols "worked". I still favor more strict isolation and travel restrictions.
4) We will continue to be at risk until some sort of effective vaccine or other form of treatment is developed and/or a quicker and cheaper screening tests are devised. The quarantine and travel restrictions can then be lessened.
5) Right now an Ebola infected person can be pretty much anywhere among us, with some level of exception in the states still having quarantine rules in effect. We still have free interstate travel here in the USA so an infected arriving in some other state can move around that way.
6) I plan to still be alert and practice some basic steps when out in the public. I drove a friend to a clinic yesterday. I did not read any magazines and touched a minimal number of things. I used hand sanitizer and washed them often ( I will have to start carrying some sort of lotion for my hands now that cold dry air is here.) I noted two baskets of ink pens and the reuse of clipboards for incoming patients to use to fill out paperwork. After each use a person would simply drop the pen they just used back into a basket. One woman had visible flu like symptoms. The next person grabbed a pen from the same basket and may have been given the same clipboard.
I did note several hand sanitizer containers around, but I was the only one that used any that I saw.
That is enough for now. In summary I feel no more secure than before. We are in a lull period, it is not over. The lack of what I consider effective measures leads me to believe the potential for another episode is highly likely.
Hmm..haven't heard anything and I just checked CNN/Yahoo news
I was about to post that more have died in this winter storm in New York then Americans here from Ebola.
Heyya, skjl, thanks for replying. 
I'll personally be helping out with point #2! I'll be headed to Boston after Thanksgiving to evaluate readiness of several hospitals that have identified themselves as willing to take ebola patients. There will be a group of us, along with folks from NIOSH (workplace safety) and the state (enforcement) to assess different portions of the hospital's plan -- I will be reviewing their lab procedures, PPE readiness, and infection control practices.
I'll personally be helping out with point #2! I'll be headed to Boston after Thanksgiving to evaluate readiness of several hospitals that have identified themselves as willing to take ebola patients. There will be a group of us, along with folks from NIOSH (workplace safety) and the state (enforcement) to assess different portions of the hospital's plan -- I will be reviewing their lab procedures, PPE readiness, and infection control practices.
Here's my Ebola story. Right after the Dallas fiasco, my husband came home on 10/7 after a month traipsing around France, Italy, Austria and Germany. After a month of constant sleep deprivation and probably not eating well, he came home sicker than a dog. I was afraid that he had pneumonia. After a sleepless night because of his horrible coughing, we got him to the clinic at 6:30 am when they supposedly opened. They had changed their opening hour to 8 am, but failed to make the change on their website. At 7:45 I was first in line. I told them that my husband had just got back from Europe and was very sick with possibly pneumonia. We were told to wait in the car. At 8:00 someone was spraying and wiping the front door handles of the clinic. She then came to the car and handed me a mask and told us he would be seen at 8:30. At 8:30 she came out and told us to go to the ER, and that they knew we were coming. When we arrived at the entrance of the hospital someone met us and told us to wait in our car. She didn't bother to ask us where we were parked. Being very sick, tired and cranky and having already spent two hours waiting in the car, my husband just wanted to go home and die. The ER and the clinic both called to track down their Ebola patient. I told them "he doesn't have Ebola. He hasn't been to any country with Ebola cases." The ER promised that if we came back, my husband would be put in a room and would not have to wait. It was late that afternoon before I could convince my husband to go to the ER. It turned out he had severe bronchitis. A week later he was back at the clinic with pneumonia. The doctor who saw him said, Oh, you're that patient." Everybody had heard about the Ebola patient who waited in the car and left without being seen. He was sick three weeks before he started feeling better.
I hope they have a better game plan in place now.
I hope they have a better game plan in place now.
hello; It seems that our heatherbeast may be able to use your story to some effect. Sorry for the experience you and your husband had.
I won't be going to every hospital in the US, lol!
That story is pretty hair-raising, I agree, and I better understand petspoiler's skepticism now. Every hospital in the US should be able, to a minimum, /correctly/ identify, triage, and isolate suspect patients until they can be transported to a hospital that does have the capability to admit and care for ebola patients. I'll only be visiting the latter -- places that intend to care for the patients. I'll be sure to share the story though, their response was pretty reactionary (and just flat out wrong).
That story is pretty hair-raising, I agree, and I better understand petspoiler's skepticism now. Every hospital in the US should be able, to a minimum, /correctly/ identify, triage, and isolate suspect patients until they can be transported to a hospital that does have the capability to admit and care for ebola patients. I'll only be visiting the latter -- places that intend to care for the patients. I'll be sure to share the story though, their response was pretty reactionary (and just flat out wrong).
Of course, nobody used the "E" word, except me when I confronted clinic and ER nurses over the phone. My husband had a mask on and was sitting in the corner for coughing patients when we were told to go wait in the car. ER visits should be limited to 911 conditions. He was very sick, but it was not an emergent condition. We had waited all night to take him to the clinic in the morning. By the time he was seen in the ER late that afternoon, wiser minds had prevailed, and if they had hazmat suits available, they were not in evidence. The only one wearing a mask was my husband.
My poor husband had not kept up on the news during his European trek, so I had to tell him about Ebola and what had happened in Dallas as the reason for why they had treated him that way.
My poor husband had not kept up on the news during his European trek, so I had to tell him about Ebola and what had happened in Dallas as the reason for why they had treated him that way.
Eleven doctors in Sierra Leon have died from Ebola. More than 350 health care workers have died.
http://news.yahoo.com/11th-sierra-leonean-doctor-dies-ebola-102726636.html
http://news.yahoo.com/11th-sierra-leonean-doctor-dies-ebola-102726636.html
Sony hackers is more interesting. Far more victims then 350
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
- Status
