About 70 hospital staffers cared for Ebola patient

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MARTHA MENDOZA

DALLAS (AP) — They drew his blood, put tubes down his throat and wiped up his diarrhea. They analyzed his urine and wiped saliva from his lips, even after he had lost consciousness.

About 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were involved in the care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was hospitalized, including a nurse now being treated for the same Ebola virus that killed the Liberian man who was visiting Dallas, according to medical records his family provided to The Associated Press.

The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit.

On Monday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the infection of the nurse means the agency must broaden the pool of people getting close monitoring. Authorities have said they do not know how the nurse was infected, but they suspect some kind of breach in the hospital's protocol.

FULL story at link.



The emergency entrance to Texas Health Presbyterian hospital, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Dallas, Texas. Hospital officials have said they are no longer accepting new patients at this time after a healthcare worker, who was caring for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, tested positive for the disease in preliminary tests. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141014/us-ebola-hospital-staff-c33b8255d6.html

[morningfog]

1. These are the others that may have been infected "by the same breach."

Hopefully they were not.

[kestrel91316]

2. I'm willing to bet that there won't be any others. Which will be a pretty good indicator of where

the problem lies (ie NOT with the guidelines or equipment).

I heard that the nurse had a bare minimum of infectious diseases training. WHY did the hospital put a rookie on hazardous duty??? To save a few bucks on payroll????

[morningfog]

3. I tend to agree and hope you're right.

I don't know why they used her. Same question as the volunteer in Spain.

[wordpix]

4. "save a few bucks on payroll?" Of course. The CEOs need their million$ first

After getting absurdly high bills for a regular procedure from a well respected hospital, I think you're onto something.

My insurance company pays out $24K for a procedure that NIH states costs $3600. Why? When a hospital charges 8x the cost of a procedure and an insurance co. willingly pays it, what's in it for the insurance co? Maybe a kickback?

It makes one think the insurance companies and providers are in cahoots to get as much $$$ as possible no matter what happens to patients and caregivers. So who cares if a rookie is on hazardous duty with no doubt low pay ?

[Mister Nightowl]

6. Nailed it!

[BumRushDaShow]

7. And done the same year

Something about 1973...

[Yo_Mama]

12. Texas Presbyterian is a non-profit. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

16. NO, it is not a "non-profit"...It is a private business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Hospital_of_Dallas

[Yo_Mama]

18. It's a member of Texas Health Resources, a non-profit

http://www.texashealth.org/Facts

Seriously, dude. If you scroll down to the bottom of the Wiki page, you will find the link to texashealth.org. All the listed hospitals, including Texas Presbyterian, are owned and controlled by this non-profit organization.

That doesn't mean that execs don't earn big salaries!!

[TBF]

8. Blaming the individual -

why is this always the first move?

It couldn't possibly be a systemic problem.

[Supersedeas]

9. easier than blaming the privileged system that placed her there

[SkyDaddy7]

15. NO, they are not blaming the individual necessarily...

But her training or perhaps the entire hospital staff broke protocol. The CDC works with numerous infectious diseases every day & they know exactly what steps to take to ensure protection...Obviously the protocol was not followed so was it just the nurse or the entire staff due to lack of training of incorrect training?

[TBF]

17. Or is it the protocol itself?

We have no way of knowing. It could be either but right away the nurse/hospital are jumped on. Couldn't possibly be the CDC and ridiculous underfunding due to actions of Congress (particularly repugs in Congress).

[moondust]

5. To limit exposure

maybe hospitals should consider parking some mobile "isolation and screening" units similar to ambulances near their ERs where people with Ebola-like symptoms can go instead of into the waiting rooms of hospitals or doctor's offices.

[amandabeech]

11. That sounds reasonable.

You might be able to retrofit a trailer or something like that. Those things come with heaters, which are necessary already in northern areas.

[Sunlei]

10. with no expanded 'non-profit gov. pays' in Texas, this hospital bill for the uninsured Mr. Duncan-

will be enormous.

[VA_Jill]

13. ONE got sick

ONE. So far. To me that says more about her immune system than anything else. Personally I think it's more telling that none of his girlfriend's family has so far shown any signs of illness, and they were in daily contact with him after he was sent home the first time. It's been, what, 2 weeks for them since they were exposed?

[LisaL]

14. Her immune system has nothing to do with it.

She was wearing protective gear which presumably should have protected her. Somehow it didn't.
There are other 70 people wearing the same gear following the same protocols that could potentially develop Ebola.
Even CDC said as much.

[VA_Jill]

19. Don't bet on it

I don't think you understand the immune system very well. Yes, she was wearing protective gear. So were a bunch of other people. But let me tell you a couple of little factoids as someone who's worked in ICU and in strict isolation. Protocols get broken. Not often, but usually not just once, by one person. That's one. And here's a few other little things. ICU is a high stress environment. Nurses generally work 12 hour shifts (which usually last a bit longer than 12 hours and sometimes as long as 14). If you're working in strict isolation it's even more stressful because you have to remember all that goes with that. If you work nights (don't know if she did, but it's a possibility) that's more stress because it's hard to get enough sleep. All those stressors are immune system killers. And if your immune system is stressed, you are more likely to catch something that you otherwise might not under normal circumstances. In other words: if your immune system is in decent shape, you could possibly break protocol and NOT get Ebola; if it isn't, you are likely to get it. Ebola is apparently not as easy to catch as people think. Otherwise Duncan's entire family would have it, and so far they show no signs. They apparently only took normal precautions such as handwashing and cleaning.