Ebola round 2

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http://www.vox.com/2014/10/13/6968775/ebola-nurse-united-states-texas-directions-protocol-breach

I found the pictures in the directions distressing. In the second glove picture, the instructions are to slide the finger inside the glove. How are they supposed to do that when they have to get past the contaminated cuff of the gown? If people are trusting the integrity of the gloves to keep them from being exposed, they are foolish. Double gloving should be encouraged. For years I routinely double gloved when practicing dentistry. There is nothing worse than removing a surgical glove and finding blood on your hand. Double gloving would also reduce the risk of exposures when removing the contaminated outer gloves. If there is any kind of aerosolized spatter, contamination will not be limited to just the front of a provider. Really bad to see pictures of removing face shields, masks and gowns with bare hands.

I would think double gloving, removing the outer gloves, removing the gown, removing the inner gloves, washing hands or using alcohol based sanitizer, gloving up again to remove face shield, goggles, mask, head covers, shoe covers, removing gloves, washing hands or using alcohol based sanitizer again would be in order. I feel bad for the health care workers that have to deal with Ebola. If they were doing what these instructions state to do, more people will become ill.

Aerosolization of the virus--with diarrhea, flushing the toilet would splatter the virus on every surface in the bathroom. In the account of the progression of the illness in Mr. Duncan, the narrative stated that when the diarrhea got really bad he asked for diapers so he wouldn't have to make the trip to the bathroom.

Did they have a decontamination area when leaving the isolation unit? Just walking into the bathroom, a person would probably have picked up some aerosolized virus on their shoes, then tracked it back on to the sick room floor. Were they able to completely strip out of their PPE before leaving the isolation area?
 
These are excellent points. This is the first I am seeing the instructions, and as someone who works regularly in a BSL-3 lab, NOT double-gloving is also alarming to me. O_O

I would want to see the hand sanitizer being used during each step if this is the case. D: I think I would be more comfortable also having the forearm sleeve protectors.

I'll ask some of our other lab folks at work about it.
 
Hello; There are questions I have. Lets start wit this one.

How long is the ebola virus viable on surfaces outside of an infected person?
 
I can only imagine how hot the hazmat suits must be. Just wearing fluid resistant gowns and head covers is enough to raise a person's temperature several degrees. The hazmat suits are probably stifling hot, and people are probably in a hurry to get the stuff off. How they are surviving the PPE in West Africa with its hotter climate is beyond me. I think I would pass out from heat stroke. When you get hot, you start sweating, your eye protection and face shield can start fogging up. Your face mask can quickly lose its integrity as you sweat underneath it. The health care workers have it really tough, working in a cesspool of virus and filth with PPE that probably could easily get compromised.
 
I can only imagine how hot the hazmat suits must be. Just wearing fluid resistant gowns and head covers is enough to raise a person's temperature several degrees. The hazmat suits are probably stifling hot, and people are probably in a hurry to get the stuff off. How they are surviving the PPE in West Africa with its hotter climate is beyond me. I think I would pass out from heat stroke. When you get hot, you start sweating, your eye protection and face shield can start fogging up. Your face mask can quickly lose its integrity as you sweat underneath it. The health care workers have it really tough, working in a cesspool of virus and filth with PPE that probably could easily get compromised.

Hello; Very informative post. I also imagine that having a drink when suited up is a no-no of the first order. These factors must lead to needing to have a larger number of personel than normal for each shift?
 
Ha! Now they're recommending limiting the number of people dealing with the Ebola patient. I would think they would need frequent breaks which would entail removal of the PPE. There are inherent risks in removal if not done properly. It is a very tough situation for the health care worker. Usually in the health care setting, low man on the totem pole gets to do the dirty work (changing diapers, etc.) I don't know if that applies in the isolation setting. If it is an aide or assistant getting stuck with clean up duties, they would have the least amount of training and knowledge of the infectious disease process.
 
If Bank of America blocks the Zero Hedge website then it's my website. Bank of America is a bunch of crooks. They do nothing to protect their customers. They have thrown Me and my wife out to the wolves twice (or the other phrase under the Bus). They let companies illegally steal money from our account with them even though we told the bank to block them.

I'm just wandering when people are going to take this serious(Ebola)?
 
Hello; There are questions I have. Lets start wit this one.

How long is the ebola virus viable on surfaces outside of an infected person?

Hello; I found a little about my own question. Here is a link that reports the ebola virus may survive no longer than a day on wet surfaces. That would suggest to me toilets as a high likelyhood environment. I will be thinking about places to be wary of. Those with high humidity, out of sunlight, with a comfortable human temperature range and open to the public. A public toilet might also be an aditional risk from aerosol droplets from flushing.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-Long-Do-Viruses-Live
 
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