Former Omaha Ebola patient says caregivers need extensive training

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By Bob Glissmann

The first Ebola patient treated in Nebraska said he now suspects that he was exposed to the virus when he was removing his gear after performing surgery in Liberia — "getting out of my surgical gown and my gloves and my boots and stuff."

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of a person who has symptoms of the Ebola virus. The virus has killed more than 4,400 people, almost all of whom lived in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Dr. Rick Sacra, a medical missionary who was treated at the Nebraska Medical Center, said Wednesday that proper training in how to put on and remove personal protective gear is key for health workers fighting the virus.

To become fully comfortable with the necessary personal protective gear, Sacra said, “you can’t have just watched a PowerPoint and seen a demo. You have to have drilled it.”

FULL story at link.



Dr. Rick Sacra


Read more: http://www.livewellnebraska.com/ebola/former-omaha-ebola-patient-says-caregivers-need-extensive-training/article_7b8e4a2e-6bc8-5820-af25-f1a5e24ad38b.html

[Yo_Mama]

1. Dr. Sacra wasn't treating Ebola patients, btw.

He was working in a maternity ward when he got it.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2014/10/15/ebola-survivor-richard-sacra-what-must-next/Ht3relF2R19s7583e5xGtN/story.html

All known Ebola patients were in another facility.