RN Detained and Quarantined As Ebola Hysteria Reaches a New Low

[MissyWrite]

NJ and NY have instituted a policy of placing health workers into mandatory 21-day quarantine upon their return from West Africa if they came into contact with Ebola patients.

This new policy is a reaction to unfounded public hysteria surrounding Dr. Craig Spencer's return to NYC after working with Doctors Without Borders, and his subsequent diagnosis of Ebola, after he had taken the subway and gone bowling. People fear Ebola can be spread through casual contact with an asymptomatic person, even though public health experts say there's plenty of scientific evidence indicating that isn't the case.

Is this policy based on the facts about Ebola transmission? Is it based on science? No, it's not, and in fact no one is saying that it is:

"Voluntary quarantine is almost an oxymoron," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We've seen what happens. ... You ride a subway. You ride a bus. You could infect hundreds and hundreds of people."

"Public health experts say there's plenty of scientific evidence indicating that there's very little chance that a random person will get Ebola, unless they are in very close contact -- close enough to share bodily fluids -- with someone who has it.

Still, there's also a sense that authorities have to do something because of Americans' fears -- rational or not -- and belief that the country is better off being safe than sorry.

Osterholm says, "You want to try to eliminate not just real risk, but perceived risk."

Mike Osterholm is an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota.

Because of this irrational "perceived" risk, Kaci Hickox, 33, an RN who has been caring for Ebola patients while on assignment with Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone, was detained at the airport, interrogated for hours, and placed in mandatory quarantine at a New Jersey hospital upon her return to the U.S. on Friday.

She has tested negative in a preliminary test for Ebola, and she does not have a fever, but the hospital says she will remain under mandatory quarantine for 21 days. She is not allowed to leave the hospital, unless officials reconsider that decision.

Here are some excerpts from her experience so far:

I am a nurse who has just returned to the U.S. after working with Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone - an Ebola-affected country. I have been quarantined in New Jersey. This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me...

I arrived at the Newark Liberty International Airport around 1 p.m. on Friday, after a grueling two-day journey from Sierra Leone. I walked up to the immigration official...

I told him that I have traveled from Sierra Leone and he replied, a little less enthusiastically: "No problem. They are probably going to ask you a few questions."...

He put on gloves and a mask and called someone. Then he escorted me to the quarantine office a few yards away. I was told to sit down. Everyone that came out of the offices was hurrying from room to room in white protective coveralls, gloves, masks, and a disposable face shield.

One after another, people asked me questions. Some introduced themselves, some didn't. One man who must have been an immigration officer because he was wearing a weapon belt that I could see protruding from his white coveralls barked questions at me as if I was a criminal.

Two other officials asked about my work in Sierra Leone. One of them was from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I was tired, hungry and confused, but I tried to remain calm. My temperature was taken using a forehead scanner and it read a temperature of 98. I was feeling physically healthy but emotionally exhausted.

Three hours passed. No one seemed to be in charge. No one would tell me what was going on or what would happen to me.

I called my family to let them know that I was OK. I was hungry and thirsty and asked for something to eat and drink. I was given a granola bar and some water. I wondered what I had done wrong.

Four hours after I landed at the airport, an official approached me with a forehead scanner. My cheeks were flushed, I was upset at being held with no explanation. The scanner recorded my temperature as 101. The female officer looked smug. "You have a fever now," she said. I explained that an oral thermometer would be more accurate and that the forehead scanner was recording an elevated temperature because I was flushed and upset.

I was left alone in the room for another three hours. At around 7 p.m., I was told that I must go to a local hospital. I asked for the name and address of the facility. I realized that information was only shared with me if I asked.

Eight police cars escorted me to the University Hospital in Newark. Sirens blared, lights flashed. Again, I wondered what I had done wrong.

At the hospital, I was escorted to a tent that sat outside of the building. The infectious disease and emergency department doctors took my temperature and other vitals and looked puzzled. "Your temperature is 98.6," they said. "You don't have a fever but we were told you had a fever."

After my temperature was recorded as 98.6 on the oral thermometer, the doctor decided to see what the forehead scanner records. It read 101. The doctor felts my neck and looked at the temperature again. "There's no way you have a fever," he said. "Your face is just flushed."

My blood was taken and tested for Ebola. It came back negative........

http://www.dallasnews.com/ebola/headlines/20141025-uta-grad-isolated-at-new-jersey-hospital-as-part-of-ebola-quarantine.ece

This is what happens to nurses when public ignorance and hysteria is placated by politicians.

We've already seen nurses blamed for just about everything Ebola-related since the first case in Dallas, and now we see a nurse being held against her will, for no reason except to make scared people "feel safer."

"It does present serious civil liberties questions," said Norman Siegel, a civil liberties lawyer in New York and the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "Historically, we've had these kinds of issues occur previously, and the courts then resolved the individual liberty issue against the larger concerns of the public's health concerns. So it then becomes a factual issue, the fact that she tested negative."

"It's completely unnecessary," said Harvard's Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute).

"I'm a believer in an abundance of caution but I'm not a believer of an abundance of idiocy."

[luv2]

I am trying to edit it but it is not working. Now I am trying to remove or replace

the question.

[luv2]

we could have more than 1 thread.

[lee1]

I think the general public has spoken, there are over 2000 comments/responses to those posts all saying the same thing

[OCNRN63, RN]

I think the general public has spoken, there are over 2000 comments/responses to those posts all saying the same thing

There was a time when the "general public" felt Jim Crow was appropriate; that didn't make it right. Just because the general public believes something is right doesn't make it so. We are supposed to be following evidence based practice, not guiding our practice based on fear. Who do you think should be steering these policies: politicians like Chris Christie or infectious disease experts?

Explain to me why this nurse should be deprived of the opportunity to consult with her attorney.

[macawake, MSN]

I think the general public has spoken, there are over 2000 comments/responses to those posts all saying the same thing

The fact that they speak, doesn’t necessarily mean that they know what they’re talking about. In this case, they don’t.

They are afraid and they don’t understand how Ebola is transmitted or when a person is infectious.

[OCNRN63, RN]

It's redundant. If people have taken the time to answer this question in depth on another thread, they probably aren't going to want to repeat themselves. I agree with Rose Queen; pose your questions on the thread that was already established. I think it's good that you're interested in this topic and seeking the opinion of others.

[Susie2310]

Well, nurses have just advocated very publicly for the highest level of PPE/respiratory protection when caring for patients with Ebola. According to medical experts in infectious disease transmission and respiratory protection, no-one knows for sure how Ebola is transmitted from person to person. So, nurses are being taken seriously, and the disease is being taken seriously. We have recently had several health care workers become infected with Ebola. As nurses, we have spoken at length about the risk to ourselves as caregivers and to patients and the public when nurses/front line health care workers are not sufficiently protected by PPE when caring for patients known to have Ebola or known to have travelled to countries where the disease is present, who are displaying possible symptoms of Ebola infection. The general public have heard nurses speaking out, and have heard political responses and the responses of health authorities. Ebola has been thrust into peoples awareness. We are now receiving enhanced public health efforts aimed at reducing the threat of Ebola transmission to the general public.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

We can't have it both ways. Nurses complained about having to take care of possible Ebola infected patients. Nurses complained that the PPE was inadequate. The general public complained about the fact that we didn't close flights from West Africa. This nurse's temp was 101 degrees F. My temp doesn't go up that high when I am upset, like she claimed.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

This nurse's temp was 101 degrees F. My temp doesn't go up that high when I am upset, like she claimed.

First temp, forehead scanner: 98

Second temp, forehead scanner when upset and flushed: 101

Third temp, at the hospital, oral, 98.6

I'm going to go with that second temp was a fluke. She has tested negative for ebola and is showing no symptoms. What is the scientific, evidence based logic to keep her in quarantine?

[OCNRN63, RN]

First temp, forehead scanner: 98

Second temp, forehead scanner when upset and flushed: 101

Third temp, at the hospital, oral, 98.6

I'm going to go with that second temp was a fluke. She has tested negative for ebola and is showing no symptoms. What is the scientific, evidence based logic to keep her in quarantine?

​What is the medically based reason for refusing to allow her to contact her attorney?

[ktwlpn, LPN]

EVERY American should be very afraid right now.

Not afraid of Ebola -- afraid of our government. Every American should be outraged at just how easy it is to violate our basic human rights and our constitutional protections for absolutely no reason except baseless fear and a politician who wants votes.

THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF.

"Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

This nurse is NOT even allowed to speak to her lawyer. Even the worst criminals have a right to speak to a lawyer.

This is exactly why we won't be able to contain it in this country. Read how these people are managed overseas. We won't stand for an enforced quarantine, being forced to care for our own ill loved ones and burning their corpses in a field outside of our town.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I don't know where the misinformation is, but this nurse's attorney is indeed working on her case right now. She also has a computer and cell phone, reading material and whatever takeout food she requests. I simply said we can't have it both ways; I didn't condone anything.