Nurses Union: Ebola did not break out of an adequate containment or protocol. There was no protocol in Dallas.
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CBS News is reporting that the Dallas Hospital that treated Thomas Eric Duncan had no Ebola protocols putting nurses and doctors at grave risk.
CBS is reporting:
Leaders of the National Nurses Union read a statement Tuesday which they said represented concerns from a number of nurses that work at Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas. The union officials declined to identify the Dallas nurses or say how many were participating in the statement.
But they were vociferous in citing a lack of protocols on the day that Thomas Eric Duncan was admitted with extreme symptoms of Ebola.
Among the flaws cited by the group included:
- insufficient garb worn by the emergency personnel
- the fact that Duncan was left “for hours” in a non-quarantined zone
- that his lab samples were sent in the same way that normal specimens are sent
- hospital official allowed nurses involved with Duncan to take care of other patients
- other ways in which the hospital did not immediately react to the situation.
“Were protocols breached?” said union spokeswoman Rose Ann DeMoro, “There were no protocols.”
“These nurses are not well protected. They’re not prepared to handle Ebola or any other pandemic,” said DeMoro. “We are deeply alarmed.”
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad freeDeMoro said the nurses who had come forward were afraid to reveal their identities “because of a culture of threat in the hospitals.”
This tells us two things that are very important.
1) That these brave nurses and doctors cared for a dying man out of courage and compassion, amidst confusion and a lack of clear training or protocols.
2) That a Dallas nurse became infected because the entire staff did not have proper training or gear.
This explains a lot. Ebola did not break out of an adequate containment or protocol. There was no protocol in Dallas during the first known case of Ebola in the U. S.
Doctors Without Borders has been treating Ebola outbreaks without losing doctors’ or nurses’ lives. It can be done, but a national effort to train and prepare caregivers must be given top priority. In addition, a global effort to contain and treat Ebola in Africa must be undertaken NOW.
With training and proper equipment, Ebola can be dealt with.
i thought a number of doctors and nurses in each hospital, had extensive biohazard-type suit training.
seems it is not the case, i wonder if this is the same here in the uk.
wonder too if the staff should wear a onepiece with gloves preattached, instead of the current get-up which seems a little ‘wing and a prayer’ (eg they wrap tape over the cuff to seal the cuff to the seperate glove)