Are American hospitals ready for Ebola?

[texarkana 551]

I retired from a major trauma hospital in 2009 and even then I knew they weren't going to be able to handle a large epidemic of any kind. Most ICU's only have 1 or 2 negativepressure isolation units.I also don't trust the CDC especially after their most recent mishaps of sending out supposedly deactivated anthrax and "finding" still live samples of smallpox forgotten in a storage room. I also find it disturbing that after the reports coming out now about the 1st US case of ebola I am finding little discussion on other nursing boards about this. We should be scared, we all know how administrators water down things,that's their job.Also patients lie,the CDC doesn't really know how many people this man came in contact with,also I believe he knew he was infected and fled Liberia before he couldn't hide his symptoms anymore.We all knew we were only one air flight from a pandemic ,well the plane has landed and from one reply on this board apparently Houston has a large population of Nigerian immigrants. This man will not be the last one, there are clouds on the horizon.In a lot of hospitals infection control is a joke, put that with understaffing and cost cutting. We need to start communicating with each other. Start looking at your own hospitals infection control policies, are they being followed.Start asking questions that could save your life,look at the numbers of health care workers in Africa that have already died doing their job.This is a health care emergency, you might say don't panic, well if panic involves having hospitals actually doing and enforcing their own infections control policies well then let the PANIC begin.Emergency rooms are going to start being overwhelmed by anybody that has a temp or upset stomach. I guess we will all know in about 21 DAYS.(mark your calendar)

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Conspiraracy theories like this lead to public panic. We're nurses, for crying out loud. Our job should be to educate ourselves and provide knowledge that reassures the public but with honesty, not promote conspiracy theories that cultivate panic.

Agree, but then again, nurses are mere mortals....

[icumufasa]

I see people balancing on ledges here. This is like saying the usa should be banned from travelling to other countries for they will transmit the war. Its not his fault that he didn't know what he had. And believe you me, the USA is better equipped than any other place in the world. Would you quit if a patient came to your unit with ebola? Aids was treated like this when jt first came out. Funny people would rather wear a hazmat suit for one case/300+ milion people than wear a condom.

[AdamantiteEnigma]

Well...

The short answer is no. We are not prepared. And I'm of the opinion that the primary reason for this lies in various cost cutting measures administration have found to be popular in years past. However the attention this is getting through various news channels is actually encouraging. There will be scrambling, and perhaps the bean counters might come to the conclusion that it's less expensive overall to ensure we have the proper resources.

Being an ED worker nearly all of my career insofar, I cringe at what is sure to be the onslaught of common cold and flu patients into the department. This most certainly has a high possibility of getting ugly.

[firstinfamily, RN]

Yes, it is going to get very ugly!!! I know the hospitals in my area do not have enough isolation rooms and every time we did have to use the PPE for TB patients they wanted us to "recycle" the mask part(label our own so not to use too many), protocols will have to be re-examined and infection control is going to have to step up to the plate. Hospitals are going to have to spend some money and we all know that is not a positive thing for nursing. My fear is with the flu season coming, we may actually miss some of the ebola cases and it will get spread even further!! Should be an interesting scenario to watch play out. Hope everyone can maintain their respective proper isolation and perhaps this is an opportunity for nursing's voice to be heard even louder than before!

[Undone]

I have to say it is a little fishy that the guy was sent home from the hospital and when he was still sick and becoming sicker 2 days later that his nephew called the CDC.

I have had family members sent home, and appear the same or worse 2 days later and I take them back, I don't call the CDC.

He knew for a fact he was exposed. I think at least in the back of his mind he must have been thinking he had better get over here before the incubation period got to the point that symptoms would be expected to set-in, just to be safe.

[SassyTachyRN]

You honestly believe this individual knew he was infected with Ebola ... for certain Ebola. And lied to leave Liberia. And then allowed himself to be discharged with a diagnosis of a viral illness. And then went back? ...

If he were really seeking medical treatment in the US for a better survival rate, don't you think he would have essentially told health care personnel he had Ebola?

So why didn't he just come out and say, "I'm from Africa and I've been exposed to Ebola there?" That's what I don't understand. It had to have been in the back of his mind that it was probably Ebola when he started to get sick. There were things he wasn't upfront about from the beginning.

[duskyjewel]

You honestly believe this individual knew he was infected with Ebola ... for certain Ebola. And lied to leave Liberia. And then allowed himself to be discharged with a diagnosis of a viral illness. And then went back? ...

If he were really seeking medical treatment in the US for a better survival rate, don't you think he would have essentially told health care personnel he had Ebola?

The Liberian government has stated that if he returns, they will prosecute him for lying on his health screening form. So it seems they think it's credible that he may have been exposed and lied about it to get on the plane.

[Nibbles1]

I'm here in Dallas about 20 min from this case. This man absolutely lied! Media reported that he just up and left his job. No warning! Dallas county is thinking about prosecuting him as well. Are we ready? No! On October 2nd was the first time my employment brought up the fact of Ebola. I told my mother and my husband back in May that either Dallas or Houston would be the first place that Ebola lands. We have a huge influx of Nigerians and Liberians here. It's just a matter of time for the next case to hit.

[twinkerrs]

I think if he knew it he would have gone to atl from Liberia. That is where the others were treated and I am sure he knew it. Plus why would he have put his family at risk?

[mappers]

Since Ebola is not airborne, why would you need negative pressure rooms? It is spread similarly to HIV and because it is only contagious when the person is sick, you know they have it, unlike HIV? I think we the precautions we have in place, we can handle it.

[OnlinePersona, LPN]

Am i the only one not worried?

PPE baby and keep it moving.

[Kelly_Christine]

That's not a bad point....