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In reply to the discussion: 16 Members of Doctors Without Borders Infected with Ebola, Nine Dead [View all]LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)66. Exactly!
If this outbreak is not put under control SOON -- WE ARE SCREWED. Our band-aid privatized Health Care System in America where it is a mix of For-Profit/Non For-Profit and Just Cut Corners to Save Greenbacks "Healthcare" cannot handle the stress or proper protocols necessary to reduce infection of humans in the event of a full scale outbreak.
We need to WAKE UP and SMELL the COFFEE. The update by the National Nurses United Union is just the tip of the Iceberg
"The Texas hospital where two health care workers contracted Ebola while caring for a patient had guidelines that were "constantly changing" and didn't have protocols on how to deal with the deadly virus," a nurses' union claims.
"The protocols that should have been in place in Dallas were not in place, and that those protocols are not in place anywhere in the United States as far as we can tell," National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said Tuesday night. "We're deeply alarmed."
Officials from National Nurses United declined to specify how many nurses they had spoken with, nor identify them to to protect them from possible retaliation. The nurses at the hospital are not members of a union, officials said.
Here's a look at some of the allegations the nurses made, according to the union:
Claim: Duncan wasn't immediately isolated
On the day that Duncan was admitted to the hospital with possible Ebola symptoms, he was "left for several hours, not in isolation, in an area where other patients were present," union co-president Deborah Burger said.
Up to seven other patients were present in that area, the nurses said, according to the union.
A nursing supervisor faced resistance from hospital authorities when the supervisor demanded that Duncan be moved to an isolation unit, the nurses said, according to the union.
Perry heads to Europe despite Ebola situation
Claim: The nurses' protective gear left their necks exposed
After expressing concerns that their necks were exposed even as they wore protective gear, the nurses were told to wrap their necks with medical tape, the union says.
"They were told to use medical tape and had to use four to five pieces of medical tape wound around their neck. The nurses have expressed a lot of concern about how difficult it is to remove the tape from their neck," Burger said.
Claim: At one point, hazardous waste piled up
"There was no one to pick up hazardous waste as it piled to the ceiling," Burger said. "They did not have access to proper supplies."
Claim: Nurses got no "hands-on" training
"There was no mandate for nurses to attend training," Burger said, though they did receive an e-mail about a hospital seminar on Ebola.
"This was treated like hundreds of other seminars that were routinely offered to staff," she said.
Claim: The nurses "feel unsupported"
So why did the group of nurses -- the union wouldn't say how many -- contact the nursing union, which they don't belong to?
According to DeMoro, the nurses were upset after authorities appeared to blame nurse Pham, who has contracted Ebola, for not following protocols.
"This nurse was being blamed for not following protocols that did not exist. ... The nurses in that hospital were very angry, and they decided to contact us," DeMoro said.
And they're worried conditions at the hospital "may lead to infection of other nurses and patients," Burger said.
A hospital spokesman did not respond to the specific allegations, but said patient and employee safety is the hospital's top priority.
"We take compliance very seriously. We have numerous measures in place to provide a safe working environment, including mandatory annual training and a 24-7 hotline and other mechanisms that allow for anonymous reporting," hospital spokesman Wendell Watson said.
Concern grows about the spread of Ebola
The Dallas mayor declined to comment on the accusations against the hospital.
"I don't comment on anonymous allegations," Mike Rawlings said.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement following the union's claims.
"For health care workers in Dallas and elsewhere, the Ebola situation is extremely difficult," CDC spokeman Tom Skinner wrote.
"The CDC is committed to their safety, and we'll continue to do everything possible to make sure they have what they need so they can prepare to safely manage Ebola patients."
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/health/texas-ebola-nurses-union-claims/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
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16 Members of Doctors Without Borders Infected with Ebola, Nine Dead [View all]
Purveyor
Oct 2014
OP
Why is it when a nurse contracts Ebola in Dallas it's all about how she broke protocol, but
jtuck004
Oct 2014
#4
I think the odds come into play here. Let's see you have the meds in Africa treating hundreds
LiberalArkie
Oct 2014
#44
That's another possibility, thank you. Also, the people who are making the most $$$ from this aren't
jtuck004
Oct 2014
#27
Or, they don't want to admit that the protocol was incorrect or not communicated.
Hoppy
Oct 2014
#38
Doctors Without Borders don't have access to the same kind of facilities and money as US hospitals.
Voice for Peace
Oct 2014
#17
I doubt it. They, unlike you, seem to be aware of the impossible working conditions
kestrel91316
Oct 2014
#28
Dr. Frieden: "Looking back, we say we should have put an even larger team on the ground immediately"
pnwmom
Oct 2014
#60
Really really really hoping the vaccine trials show it to be safe AND effective.
kestrel91316
Oct 2014
#19
Hopefully the blood transfusions will be found to work. I know that they need more money to
jwirr
Oct 2014
#25
There's more money to be made curing the erectile dysfunction of Wall Street CEOs. eom
whereisjustice
Oct 2014
#53
Yes they mutate, but they do not do so as to completely change the mode of transmission
Marrah_G
Oct 2014
#74
They (The Rich) will contract vendors to build isolation units immediately
LovingA2andMI
Oct 2014
#71