When Thomas Eric Duncan first came into the hospital, he arrived with an elevated temperature, but was sent home.
On his return visit to the hospital, he was brought in by ambulance under the suspicion from him and family members that he may have Ebola.
Mr. Duncan was left for several hours, not in isolation, in an area where other patients were present.
No one knew what the protocols were or were able to verify what kind of personal protective equipment should be worn and there was no training.
Subsequently a nurse supervisor arrived and demanded that he be moved to an isolation unit– yet faced resistance from other hospital authorities.
Lab specimens from Mr. Duncan were sent through the hospital tube system without being specially sealed and hand delivered. The result is that the entire tube system by which all lab specimens are sent was potentially contaminated.
There was no advance preparedness on what to do with the patient, there was no protocol, there was no system. The nurses were asked to call the Infectious Disease Department. The Infectious Disease Department did not have clear policies to provide either.
Initial nurses who interacted with Mr. Duncan nurses wore a non-impermeable gown front and back, three pairs of gloves, with no taping around wrists, surgical masks, with the option of N-95s, and face shields. Some supervisors said that even the N-95 masks were not necessary.
The suits they were given still exposed their necks, the part closest to their face and mouth. They had suits with booties and hoods, three pairs of gloves, no tape.
For their necks, nurses had to use medical tape, that is not impermeable and has permeable seams, to wrap around their necks in order to protect themselves, and had to put on the tape and take it off on their own.
(For the rest of their testimony, click the link.)
One of the problems when a hospital is run by bean counters that just worry about profits is that they will skimp on costly precautions putting caregivers and other patients at risk.
Our healthcare system spend billions in unnecessary tests so they can be billed to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, but skimp on a few dollars worth of protective equipment when dealing with a Liberian national that just came from an epidemic center. I would normally say "only in Texas" but I am afraid this could happens anywhere….
This is the dark side of Capitalism.
Ebola spreader Thomas Duncan lied on his pass port to get here and should be charged with terrorizem
Seeing as he is dead that wouldn't be very effective.
Obama promised on Sep 16th that new procedures were in place at hospitals to handle Ebola patients. Another lie. Is anyone surprised?
"Our healthcare system spend billions in unnecessary tests so they can be billed to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, but skimp on a few dollars worth of protective equipment…This is the dark side of Capitalism."
No, that is the dark side of government regulation and government interference in the free market.
FYI, Medicare and Medicaid are government programs.
And the reason you use insurance to pay medical bills is more government regulation. That is why the hospital is more worried about the paying customer(the insurance company) than you. If you were the paying customer, you would be amazed how much better you get treated.
I should know, I go out of my way to pay my own doctor bills.
With the billions we spend on DHS it seems there should have been preparations for foreseeable epidemics and pandemics, as opposed to spending it all on spying on citizens. I think somebody screwed the pooch on this issue – and it should not have happened. I blame the Chief Executive for not doing his primary job – managing the operations of government.
The family members who lived in the Dallas apartment where Duncan went, were put in quarantine after he was taken to the hospital, and have never been heard from again. Where are they?
Obama unions allowing travel restrictions denying members Dallas-Cleveland flights $78 roundtrip? In-Your-Dreams!
NIH and CDC use OUR MONEY, for stupid stuff, such as study of the sex ;life of shrimp, back when boats were coming in from Haiti, same thing, I worked in a Fla. Hosp. and we were not told that a form of TB was coming in, or that it had no known cure. Properly informing hospitals in ALL AREAS, and instructing them as to what equipment, etc, they need and as to what symptoms they should look out for, would go a long way. Common isolation precautions would help , but in this situations a more stringent form is needed and a notice should have gone out long ago to the infection control officer at EVERY HOSPITAL.
Good Question, only heard that they were released from isolation.
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So we have behavior as if no one ever heard of Ebola and it's severe consequences. Maybe they believed that it was difficult to catch. IMO the supervisors, administration and anyone else who downplayed the threat should be held accountable for the millions of dollars that medical care, cleanup and downtime cost.
I'm shocked, I tell you, just shocked 🙁
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