Suspected Ebola case taken from Braintree, MA clinic under police escort

[Little Star]

?itok=DdV5JcG3&c=f7cde48c09517fb58e1332cc44f0ddd4

A man is isolated in the back of an ambulance at Harvard Vanguard Medical Center in Braintree Sunday afternoon for precautionary measures, officials said the man complained of medical issues and had recently traveled to West Africa. After more than an hour the victim was transported to an area hospital.

A man who turned up at the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates urgent-care offices in Braintree this afternoon complaining of a headache and other Ebola-like systems has been quarantined as a precaution, according to the Braintree Fire Department.

Firefighter Joe Zanca said the man was isolated “based on his travel history.”

Zanca said the patient showed up at the Grossman Drive facility shortly after 1:30 p.m. The building was evacuated and the patient was isolated at the scene.

A Brewster ambulance left with the patient just before 4 p.m., with a police escort. The ambulance driver was wearing a hazmat suit and a facemask. The convoy’s destination could not be immediately confirmed. A second person was later brought out on a stratcher in a hazmat suit and placed in a second ambulance.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/10/suspected_ebola_case_taken_from_braintree_clinic_under_police

[uppityperson]

1. It is good this facility is looking at travel history.

[Warpy]

5. Boston's a port of entry city

and Braintree is a fairly close suburb. I saw a lot of weird diseases people had picked up all over the planet.

Never saw Ebola-Zaire, outbreaks were confined to remote villages until very lately.

[scarystuffyo]

2. Just the beginning

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. I hope not/NT

[RKP5637]

6. It certainly feels that way, but I hope not. It seems so like the flu, there might be a lot of

concerns/alerts. Hope that does not over task facilities for those that need help that might have contracted it.

[morningfog]

15. Beginning of what?

[PAProgressive28]

4. Already a thread here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025656605

[HereSince1628]

7. I sort of expect people in positions of responsibility to act responsibly

This looks like it would if people have learned from the mistake in TX.

[Paper Roses]

8. I have family very close to this area. They are medical professionals.

I am certainly concerned for this patient and for all ebola patients but when it gets this close to home, I become even more concerned. I hope this patient is not ebola positive. He has now been transferred to Beth Israel hospital in Boston. His car with bio-hazard signs posted on it has been towed from the hospital grounds.

The patient recently returned from a trip to Africa.
Like most others, I am concerned. Double concern when I think about my family. I hope this does not sound selfish. Just a mothers reaction.

http://www.necn.com/news/health/Patient-Isolated-for-Ebola-Symptoms-in-Braintree-Mass-278946321.html

[Adsos Letter]

27. Not selfish at all, Paper Roses

It is quite natural, and very human. I say this as a father.

[ecstatic]

9. Why didn't he call 911?

So medical personnel wouldn't be caught off guard? Urgent care isn't equipped to deal with Ebola.

[HereSince1628]

11. Maybe there is a need for some public service announcements?

I suspect the average person isn't aware.

There's going to be a learning curve that needs to be climbed, even for the general public.

[Marrah_G]

10. Seems like they have things under control

Not very worried, Beth Israel is a really good hospital and there are a lot of medical professionals in Boston with experience in rare infectious diseases/

[pnwmom]

13. It's too bad, if he has Ebola, that he exposed people at this urgent care facility.

They were no doubt not ready to receive a patient like him.

[morningfog]

16. It doesn't specify his symptoms.

If he does have Ebola, hopefully his symptoms didn't include vomiting and shitting.

People need to remember it spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. Not through the air. And that people become more contagious as their symptoms worsen. The viral load increases over time.

[YarnAddict]

12. What's with the 2nd person brought out on a stretcher?

Someone traveling with this patient? Someone he sneezed on in the waiting room? A medical person doing the intake? Or, another perso showing symptoms?

[alfie]

14. I wondered about that too

No reason to be in a hazmat suit if just exposed.

[HereSince1628]

17. low in the story it says a guy who came in with a sore throat

they let him leave wearing a mask

[YarnAddict]

18. Maybe a different guy?

A second person was later brought out on a stratcher in a hazmat suit and placed in a second ambulance.

There's a big difference between being allowed to leave wearing a mask, and being in a hazmat suit, on a stretcher, and being placed in an ambulance.

[HereSince1628]

19. An interview with his wife says her husband went out wearing

the mask.

Maybe its someone else but the story seems aimed at that explanation

[YarnAddict]

20. Quite confusing--

as are most early reports.

[cali]

21. update: the patient is at Beth Israel in Boston

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/12/ebola/z3DybKoXBg0XjPO6m5yVgK/story.html

[morningfog]

22. Not too worried about this one. No fever has been reported.

The patient has a headache and had traveled to Liberia recently. No report or a fever or, most importantly, contact with an Ebola patient. I think this patient is like the deputy in Texas. Extra cautious, and understandably so.

[magical thyme]

23. that he came in complaining of headache and muscle aches does not preclude fever.

His (unsourced) complaint is not the same as what they found. Due to HIPAA regulations, the hospital won't report results to the public without specific, written permission to do so.

So he may or may not have had a fever on intake. Duncan's intake showed a temp of 100.1; it spiked to 103 later on while he was in the ED. The fevers go up and down.

That said, there have been plenty of scares in recent weeks. The odds are this will be another one, but that doesn't mean it can't go the other way.

[morningfog]

24. They haven't even found that he fits as an Ebola risk.

They are saying the risk that he was even exposed to Ebola is extremely low.

[magical thyme]

25. he is in isolation and being tested for Ebola

low risk does not equal no risk.

[morningfog]

26. He is not being tested for Ebola yet. He is being assessed

For whether to even test. They are monitoring him and will test him if appropriate.


http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/12/ebola/z3DybKoXBg0XjPO6m5yVgK/story.html