Changes to Ebola Protection Worn by U.S. Hospital Workers

[boston bean]

Left picture is what they recommended prior, right is what they are recommending now, also listed below:

Additions

1) Hood that covers the neck
2) Second Layer of Gloves
3) Suit will be standardized, but the changes were not specified
4) Fluid-resistant leg and shoe coverings

Speaking by phone from Liberia, where he was training workers for Samaritan’s Purse, the medical charity that Dr. Brantly and Ms. Writebol worked for, Mr. Kaufman said he had warned the agency as recently as a week ago that its guidelines were lax.

“They kind of blew me off,” he said. “I’m happy to see they’re changing them, but it’s late.”

Melissa Brower, a C.D.C. spokeswoman, said the agency was “taking a hard look at our recommendations and may be making changes.”

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the C.D.C., expressed regret about his agency’s initial response to the first Ebola case in Dallas.

“In retrospect, with 20/20 hindsight,” he said a few hours before his agency tightened its guidelines, “we could have sent a more robust hospital infection control team and been more hands-on with the hospital from Day 1.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/us/lax-us-guidelines-on-ebola-led-to-poor-hospital-training-experts-say.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Heck of a job, Frieden. n/t

[Ms. Toad]

2. Hmmm...Kinda fixes the glaring gaps I pointed out in a few posts yesterday. n/t

[magical thyme]

3. thank you for this, bb.

apparently they actually finally talked to people who actually do the work, instead of the bean counters the run the hospitals.

It's too bad it took a patient who suffered and died horribly, and 2 sick nurses, to wake them up to the seriousness of this epidemic.

We still should not be thinking of treating these patients at every hospital. It's a brand new disease to the vast majority of doctors and beyond the most rudimentary support, all treatment is experimental, whether catheterization, ventilation and dialsysis or choosing experimental medicines. And regular hospitals, with rotating staff and holes filled by per diems, are not appropriately staffed or run for the level of isolation required when handling highly infectious specimens.

Leave treatment to the ones who have experience with it working at the 4 BSL-4 hospitals that have, along with dedicated (in the sense of focussed only on that patient) and highly trained staff, separate, dedicated labs for it.