For Health Care Workers Fighting Ebola, the Biggest Battle Is Staying Healthy

[uppityperson]

Very interesting article on fighting ebola, caregivers, politics, staff shortages.


http://www.newsweek.com/healthcare-workers-fighting-ebola-biggest-battle-staying-healthy-282821

For doctors and nurses battling Ebola in West Africa, the anxiety can be exhausting.

Monitoring the health of their patients is a basic requirement of their work. But as the virus has spread through villages and cities, killing 5,000 and infecting over 13,000, another task quickly became critical: monitoring their own health just as carefully.

“You remain anxious all day. You can relax a bit when you get home. Then in the morning it starts again,” Dr. Gino Strada, the founder of Emergency, a Milan, Italy-based international medical organization, tells Newsweek. Strada has been working with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone since October.

While the effect of the Ebola outbreak has been devastating to the region’s communities and the economy, health experts are increasingly recognizing that caring for Ebola health workers might be as essential to stopping the disease as any other measure or protocol....(more @ link)

The Monrovia hospital for health care workers
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[TorchTheWitch]

1. Where the hell are the first world countries on this???

Even now it's only the US actually doing anything.

Dammit, this pisses me off so much!

[riversedge]

4. World Bank brings Ebola funding to nearly $1 billion

It is mindboggling how much we have to spend while the other countries do not. Yet, I do not know the specifics of how much they spend. Except that the US gives more.

I am not pissed off--this is for a good cause.


New Ebola funding request would dwarf previous commitment
HealthLeaders Media-Nov 6, 2014
The White House is asking Congress for $6.18 billion in additional funding to fight Ebola, dwarfing previous requests. The administration ...

World Bank brings Ebola funding to nearly $1 billion
Reuters-Nov 5, 2014
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank's private sector arm pledged $450 million on Wednesday to support trade, investment and ...


Ebola's orphans: Survivors care for children left behind by disease
In-Depth-Fox News-Nov 5, 2014

[TorchTheWitch]

5. It isn't just money that's needed

It's HELP. Where are the first world countries militaries? Cuba sent well over 100 doctors but the first world countries other than the US are sitting on their asses though a few are just throwing a little money at the problem. And where is that money even going? The WHO Africa arm is corrupt and so are the governments of the outbreak areas which is why their populations are so woefully poor with grossly inadequate hospitals and clinics. Who is controlling this money to make sure that it all goes to the problem and not in the pockets of corrupt organizations/governments? These countries desperately need doctors, nurses, hospital tent clinics, supplies, etc.. Why aren't the other first world countries doing even a fraction of what the US has already done?

Damn right I'm pissed off at the first world countries sitting on their asses just chucking a bit of money at the problem.

Yeah, and I'm pretty pissed off that the US has no problem spending over $6 billion on these countries when they wouldn't dream of spending that on their own working citizens here at home and will be yanking the $6+ billion out of the pockets of us working stiffs that are already up against a wall.

[KMOD]

2. For those who still think quarantines and stigmatizing are are good idea....

"And in the countries where the virus has hit hardest, the stakes are high. There are approximately 98 nurses for every 10,000 patients in the U.S. For the same number of patients in Sierra Leone, there are an estimated two nurses, and in Liberia there are three."

Yeah, great idea Cuomo, Christie, LePage.

[uppityperson]

6. 98 nurses/10,000 patients vs 2 or 3/10,000 patients

Did you see the photo of the hospital for health care workers in Monrovia? Looks like they have air conditioning which is good.

[KMOD]

7. Yes. This is one of the occasions where the US financial committment and military aid

should be celebrated. Building hospitals, even pop up ones, is critical to containing this, and I'm grateful for the work being done to do this.

[LeftInTX]

3. Kicking to read later