"Houston we have a problem" This just got very real

Published

And so it begins....

A health care worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with Ebola who later died, has preliminarily tested positive for the deadly virus, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement today.

The health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has been isolated since reporting a low-grade fever Friday, the department said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct further testing to confirm the diagnosis.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services said in the statement. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/texas-health-care-worker-tests-positive-ebola/story?id=26135108
Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Wow, just WOW! What on earth was that nurse thinking??? Why would she get on a plane, with a fever, when she knew she had been exposed???? I hate to throw a fellow nurse under the bus, but if that is true she deserves to be.

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Specializes in heme oncology, critical care.
Wow, just WOW! What on earth was that nurse thinking??? Why would she get on a plane, with a fever, when she knew she had been exposed???? I hate to throw a fellow nurse under the bus, but if that is true she deserves to be.

I rarely ever comment, but I just wanted to clarify, her temperature was 99.5, which is NOT considered a fever. We do not know what her temperature was the previous other times she checked it, or even what her baseline temp was. A better way to self monitor might have been to report a 2 degrees or more rise from baseline and to seek further treatment. I think the media is sensationalizing this story, and placing blame on this poor woman, when it seems that there weren't clear guidelines on what to do (or what not to do) after Ebola exposure. Any one of us could be in her shoes, and no one can say for certainty what they would have done. Prayers for Amber Vinson, and Nina Pham

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Wow, just WOW! What on earth was that nurse thinking??? Why would she get on a plane, with a fever, when she knew she had been exposed???? I hate to throw a fellow nurse under the bus, but if that is true she deserves to be.

She was thinking she was ok, since she called the CDC and they told her it was ok to fly.

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.
Wow, just WOW! What on earth was that nurse thinking??? Why would she get on a plane, with a fever, when she knew she had been exposed???? I hate to throw a fellow nurse under the bus, but if that is true she deserves to be.

Apparently (according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta), Amber called the CDC, asked if it was okay to fly first with that temp, then got on the plane.

Once more, if this is true, nurses get bad direction from the the powers that be. . .

Apparently the CDC is revising its parameter for a fever that should cause concern down from 101.5 to 100.4.

Sanjay Gupta was also reporting that Nina Pham's temperature wasn't that high but she came on in due to other symptoms. So much for fever as the cardinal sign. . .

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I agree. There was a press conference yesterday stating that a team of specialists will be dispatched to a facility within hours when a new case of Ebola is detected. They also stated that possibly sending a new potential Ebola patient to one of the 4 facilities equipped to handle and also handling the transportation, medical waste and decon.

Yes, and wasn't there a "team of specialists being flown in immediately" when Duncan was first diagnosed? What did they do? Sit around the conference room eating donuts with the head mucky-mucks???

Makes me very angry....lies, lies and more lies.....

mc3:no:

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I think the only way we can get a handle on this is to 1) stop all the flights to and from the affected countries!! Couldn't the health care workers who are helping in West Africa take specially outfitted chartered planes back and forth? 2) Move the current and future patients to the 4 hospitals that are trained and equipped to handle Ebola and 3) quarantine - not voluntarily, but mandatory - every single person who has been in contact with Duncan, the two nurses, the families, all the healthcare workers AND everyone who was in the ER when Duncan and the nurses came in. Oh wait, and Nancy Snyderman and her crew, too. Evidently, some people don't understand the meaning of "voluntary quarantine". I know - I would HATE it; I'd have to be led kicking and screaming to wherever the designated quarantine facility was but I would do it, to protect my family. And finally, supply every single healthcare worker and hospital staff member with the proper equipment, provide them education and monitoring and teach them how to use it!

Call me paranoid - I just don't trust this government any more and haven't for a long, long time. This is the unfortunate icing on the deadly cake.

mc3 :no:

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I don't know why she would do that but I did see on the news that she called the CDC several times asking if she was allowed to fly with a 99.x temp. They told her the high risk temp was 100.6 and since she was under that temp then she was fine. What a mess

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Specializes in ICU,ER,med-Surg,Geri,Correctional.

"Evidently, some people don't understand the meaning of "voluntary quarantine". I know - I would HATE it; I'd have to be led kicking and screaming to wherever the designated quarantine facility was but I would do it, to protect my family" The way I feel is yes offer or Put all these folks in a really nice quarantine. Like a nice hotel give them free food, drinks and PTO. $$$ should not be an option. In fact let the Hospital Administrator pay for it. Then if these administrators cant provide the equipment and support out of their empathetic nature. Perhaps the consequences of them losing some $$$ might make them get with the program. The administrator is the captain of the ship!

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Specializes in Family Practice, Mental Health.
why wasn't she in isolation? why was she flying? why was she out in public?

She spoke to "someone" at the CDC who cleared her to fly because her temp was below 100F. Source: Radio station quoting CNN. (Not very reliable, but its something to note and f/u on).

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
the more I read about this and the more "news" we have trickling toward us, I am affirmed in my decision that I will only care for an Ebola patient if I am availed the same equipment as the Hazmat team. I do not care what anyone says about proper PPE etc... have you heard of anyone from the CDC or Hazmat contracting Ebola? exactly! also I wouldn't mind a decontaminating bleach shower before and after patient care.... that is all....

This and I want the insurance plan that members of Congress have.

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Just read the statement from NNU on behalf of the Texas nurses ( Statement by RN’s at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital as provided to National Nurses United | National Nurses United ) and it's pretty clear what the breach was....

"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. "

That is in zero way part of any protocol put out by the CDC or anyone else, and if such tape were to get contaminated it would be virtually impossible to take it off without a very high risk of contaminating yourself. This is an example of hospitals not communicating clear protocols, and leaving staff to make up their own, which makes them even more at risk.

Some hospitals may be ready for Ebola (I do think my hospital has done a pretty good job but could do much better), but it's obvious that this particular hospital was not. To be fair, Duncan was an index case....Ebola being initially diagnosed in the US wasn't really on anyone's radar until he got here. In that way he kinda did us a favor...he's forcing us to get prepared.

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