Ebola here in Dallas USA

coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN · Oct 9, 2014

Did the patient admit to coming here for better ebola treatment or is that being assumed? From what I've read he was not symptomatic when he came to the US. Did he buy his plane ticket before or after he made contact with his sick neighbor?

Considering this county has a documented history of not caring about sick people of color, I can understand the outrage the community has about in thinking he wasn't treated well because of his skin color. However, I don't think that's the case. The hospital dropped the ball (whether the Nurse or physician) in getting this man treated right away, ZMapp was already few and far in between, and I believe he received the same experimental treatment that another journalist is getting. It's just a serious of unfortunate events and I don't believe that hospital staff didn't care. I'm pretty sure being labeled as the hospital with the first dead Ebola patient in the United States isn't very comforting or good for PR.

duskyjewel · Oct 9, 2014

He lied on his health screening form to get here. Had he returned to Liberia he would have been prosecuted.

coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN · Oct 9, 2014

He lied on his health screening form to get here. Had he returned to Liberia he would have been prosecuted.

But what did he lie about? There's information he helped a sick, pregnant woman, but there's no evidence that Duncan knew his neighbor had Ebola when he helped her as the diagnosis was determined after she died. Did he lie about coming in contact with person with Ebola? If he said no he may have not been lying since again, he didn't know she had confirmed Ebola at the time. He even told the nurse in the hospital he hadn't been around an Ebola patient. He's already in the country so what would be his motive for lying about being around Ebola if he was already sick?

Nurse__Mary · Oct 9, 2014

I just moved to North Dallas 3 weeks ago from La. This Ebola situation is very scary.

HappyWife77, BSN, RN · Oct 9, 2014

I just moved to North Dallas 3 weeks ago from La. This Ebola situation is very scary.

I feel for you Mary, it's definitely scary. Well, how would any of us feel if we got to work and started receiving report on an Ebola patient? It would be like....here we go....it is a reality!

elkpark · Oct 9, 2014

I feel for you Mary, it's definitely scary. I would not want to care for an Ebola patient. I'm just being honest. My hubby said absolutely not and I agree.

So, being honest (which is good), if you contracted Ebola or some other awful communicable disease, your husband would be okay with other healthcare professionals refusing to care for you??

HappyWife77, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

So, being honest (which is good), if you contracted Ebola or some other awful communicable disease, your husband would be okay with other healthcare professionals refusing to care for you??

Great point! I'll have to bring that up to him. His reasoning would be keeping me out of the hospital working period. Since I don't work there...that should not be a problem.

As long as I'm educated and provided what I need to care for someone I would TRY to have no fear.

allnurses Guide · Oct 10, 2014

Ebola Outbreak 2014: Information Resources

BlueDevil, DNP · Oct 10, 2014

Did the patient admit to coming here for better ebola treatment or is that being assumed? From what I've read he was not symptomatic when he came to the US. Did he buy his plane ticket before or after he made contact with his sick neighbor?

Not necessarily meaning you Kenderella, but it appears necessary to remind those that have not done a lot of international travel that it takes 3-6 months to get a visa to travel from Liberia to the US (we go to Uganda every summer and always apply for our visas in February). Mr. Duncan had been planning to come to the US for over 4 years to marry his ex-girlfriend, after having rekindled their 16-17 year on again-off again romance. He applied for his visa in March 2014, and reportedly purchased his plane ticket in July after receiving approval.

The pregnant woman that Mr. Duncan helped was the first person in the town to contract Ebola and she was initially misdiagnosed as having Malaria. He didn't know her; he saw her collapse in the street and went to assist her. She had none of the typical symptoms of Ebola. She was subsequently diagnosed with Malaria and sent home from the hospital specifically so that she wouldn't be exposed to Ebola! Mr. Duncan was a good Samaritan; he had stayed with her at the hospital, helped her return to her home, bid her goodbye and never saw her again. She died the following day, but NO ONE knew she had Ebola until the post-mortem, which happened either one or two days after Mr. Duncan had left the country (it is unclear). Therefore, he could not have known, and did not intentionally mislead anyone. He answered with what he believed to be the truth.

Some people are very enthusiastic about accusing a decent man of something he did not do.

I am left to wonder how that makes anyone feel better or safer?

AOx1 · Oct 10, 2014

Some people are very enthusiastic about accusing a decent man of something he did not do.
I am left to wonder how that makes anyone feel better or safer?

I think you've hit on it exactly. It reminds me of how often we hear blaming of others in healthcare and I think that we do it in part to feel safe. For example, if we see a fat person have a heart attack at a young age, we hear people make fat jokes. If we see a young person overdose, we hear comments about meth heads. It's distancing. If we can convince ourselves that this could never happen to me because I'm not fat, an addict, a whatever, we feel safe. The problem with this comes when someone breaks the mold (ex- a skinny, fit, seemingly healthy young person has a heart attack) and this feels so much more devastating. I'm not saying it's ok, but I do think there's a strong sense of "Well, Ebola isn't my problem because I'm not from a 3rd world country/don't travel there/etc."

it reminds me of when AIDS was called a "gay disease" back in the 80s until we admitted that it most assuredly is not.

coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

Not necessarily meaning you Kenderella, but it appears necessary to remind those that have not done a lot of international travel that it takes 3-6 months to get a visa to travel from Liberia to the US (we go to Uganda every summer and always apply for our visas in February). Mr. Duncan had been planning to come to the US for over 4 years to marry his ex-girlfriend, after having rekindled their 16-17 year on again-off again romance. He applied for his visa in March 2014, and reportedly purchased his plane ticket in July after receiving approval.
The pregnant woman that Mr. Duncan helped was the first person in the town to contract Ebola and she was initially misdiagnosed as having Malaria. He didn't know her; he saw her collapse in the street and went to assist her. She had none of the typical symptoms of Ebola. She was subsequently diagnosed with Malaria and sent home from the hospital specifically so that she wouldn't be exposed to Ebola! Mr. Duncan was a good Samaritan; he had stayed with her at the hospital, helped her return to her home, bid her goodbye and never saw her again. She died the following day, but NO ONE knew she had Ebola until the post-mortem, which happened either one or two days after Mr. Duncan had left the country (it is unclear). Therefore, he could not have known, and did not intentionally mislead anyone. He answered with what he believed to be the truth.
Some people are very enthusiastic about accusing a decent man of something he did not do.
I am left to wonder how that makes anyone feel better or safer?

Thank you so much for that! I pretty much already assumed he had to have had his trip planned and waited for a visa because you can't just buy a ticket like that last minute. I keep seeing all these assumptions thrown around like it's truth. People stating he came here for better treatment for Ebola and that he purposely lied and should have been charged with attempted murder. I tried searching for when he said he came here just to be treated and he knew he had Ebola, blah, blah, blah. Apparently, I couldn't find any of that because it wasn't the truth.

It's horrible the lynch mob mentality against this man since he got sick and no even after his death. Again, I believe the staff did all they could to save him. And like AOx1 just said there are people who still blame "the gays" for AIDS. We all need a scapegoat and there's no room for facts when fear is in the room.

FLAlleycat · Oct 10, 2014

I'm curious as to how you feel they are responsible? I think absence of malice here is abundantly clear.

You are right . . . I spoke out of anger from family's comments about the pt receiving suboptimal care because he is black. Nursing is both rewarding as well as extremely difficult, especially when you deliver the best care you can only to be slapped in the face with something as stupid as "because he was _____ (you fill in the blank), you didn't care for him".