Presbyterian workers wore no hazmat suits for two days while treating Ebola patient

[TomCADem]

Source: Dallas News

Health care workers treating Thomas Eric Duncan in a hospital isolation unit didn’t wear protective hazardous-material suits for two days until tests confirmed the Liberian man had Ebola — a delay that potentially exposed perhaps dozens of hospital workers to the virus, according to medical records.

The 3-day window of Sept. 28-30 is now being targeted by investigators for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the key time during which health care workers may have been exposed to the deadly virus by Duncan, who died Oct. 8 from the disease.

Duncan was suspected of having Ebola when he was admitted to a hospital isolation unit Sept. 28, and he developed projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea later that day, according to medical records his family turned over to The Associated Press.

But workers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas did not abandon their gowns and scrubs for hazmat suits until tests came back positive for Ebola about 2 p.m. on Sept. 30, according to details of the records released by AP.

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/presbyterian-workers-wore-no-protective-gear-for-two-days-while-treating-ebola-patient.html/?hootPostID=c7c473e639ad2859ea04ad2773012ff1

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While Fox News goes crazy about how Ebola is magically spreading despite all the precautions that were taken, the truth is that it now turns out that no precautions were taken when Eric Duncan was first admitted with projectile vomit and explosive diarrhea. This information is being hidden as folks go into hysterics about how Ebola is now going airborne and how you may be able to catch Ebola through casual contact. The fuck-up was at the hospital in allowing staff to come into contact with vomit and diarrhea without any appropriate gear.

This reminds me of the early days of the AIDS spread in 1980s when the news media was suggesting that you could get AIDS simply by standing near someone who was gay.

[murielm99]

1. If anything,

this is even more fucked up than than the AIDS pandemic. Medical people have more information about Ebola, at least how it is spread and what precautions should be taken.

It reminds me more of Captain Trips, which was fictional. How many more SNAFUs are going to come to light?

[Travelman]

2. Dallas Morning News walked that claim back immediately

They retracted the claim nineteen minutes after the original headline:

https://twitter.com/dallasnews/status/522456471641284608

[greyl]

3. I think they only took back the "No Protective Gear" part,

and specified "No Hazmat Gear".

edit: "No Hasmat Suits", I mean.

[candelista]

7. That's right.

Someone (not you) needs to read more carefully.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. At what point did the CDC take charge?

That seems to be a sticking point.

[Yo_Mama]

5. CDC never called for Hazmat suits.

CDC called for levels of protection that were used.

CDC recommended gloves, goggles or face shield, gowns, and leg/shoe coverings for HCW in certain messy situations. In CDC's press conference they said that by all accounts, the recommended protective measures were used:
http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2014/10/cdc-press-conference-media-statement-on.html

[TomCADem]

14. Even The Old CDC Guidelines Require Hazmat

The CDC had distributed guidelines to hospitals recommending the use of hazmat suits.

[LeftInTX]

6. President of National Nurses United was on Fox News

I was at the gym, and couldn't hear it. The ticker indicated that they were discussing poor conditions at the hospital. She was on for at about 15 minutes.

Unfortunately afterward, Fox brought in the usual anti-Obama suspects.

I was surprised that they would even speak to a union president.

[candelista]

8. This is what happens when you let Presbyterians run a hospital.

Just kidding.

[jeff47]

9. Private hospital in low-regulation state. Clearly the federal government's fault. (nt)

[candelista]

10. Duncan's family called the CDC when Duncan was kicked out of the hospital.

The CDC told the hospital to re-admit him, instead of sending a CDC team to handle the situation. So yes, this is the federal government's fault.

[jeff47]

12. How many hospitals does the CDC run?

zero.

So your mythical super-action CDC team would do....what exactly? They'd take him back to the hospital and re-admit him.

[TomCADem]

15. I Thought Hospital Was Private

Didn't know it was operated by CDC. Thanks!

I also thought that State Governments are responsible for health and safety within borders.

[greatlaurel]

11. Great point!

The conditions at the hospital are regulated at a state and local level. This is a big mess up by the hospital and the county and state health departments. They trying to CYA by blaming the CDC.

[Yo_Mama]

13. And no hospital will - here's a recent article about a St. Louis' hospital's prep

http://fox2now.com/2014/10/16/health-officials-taking-precautions-for-ebola-in-st-louis/

That's in line with CDC recs.

[TomCADem]

16. That Looks Like Hazmat Gear...

...rather than normal hospital scrubs. Why wouldn't any hospital not use appropriate protective gear?

In Dallas, unfortunately, hospital staff were just in scrube. This was the huge screw up from the top. Waiting until there was a formal confirmation of Ebola was a huge mistake.

[Yo_Mama]

17. It's not. Hazmat suits are not worn in hospitals.

The nurses at Dallas had goggles, face masks and a different type of scrubs, and if I recall correctly, it's noted on the logs that Pham was wearing leg gear at one point.

The whole-body suits of the type worn in Africa (that we see on the news) are not standard. This type of gear is standard for certain situations.

[TomCADem]

18. Not true. They wore gowns and scrubs....

Only after Duncan was determined to have Ebola. Then, per CBS, they put on the protective gear.