A Second Health Worker Infected By Ebola In Dallas

A second health worker involved in the care of Thomas Duncan, the Liberian patient zero for Ebola in Dallas, has tested positive in a preliminary Ebola test. But no worries - this was all part of the plan!

A second case of Ebola among the nearly 100 doctors, nurses and assistants who treated Mr. Duncan for 10 days at Presbyterian was not unexpected. For days, federal health officials have warned that in addition to a nurse who was confirmed to have Ebola on Sunday, other cases were likely.

There will be a press conference this morning but for now we are offered some utterly non-reassuring details:

The original Ebola victim, Mr. Duncan, 42, a Liberian who arrived in Dallas last month and died last Wednesday, was diagnosed on Sept. 30, two days after he was admitted to the hospital. At some point while he was in isolation, the critical-care nurse, Nina Pham, 26, became infected. She reported a low-grade fever overnight Friday, and drove herself to the emergency room of the hospital where she worked.

Ms. Pham, now listed in “good condition” at Presbyterian hospital, had extensive contact with Mr. Duncan on multiple occasions while wearing a gown, mask and other protective gear, but officials had not yet determined how she became infected. They said she might have breached safety protocol when removing the protective clothing and material.

It was also not known how the second hospital worker may have contracted the disease, and it was unclear what, if any, monitoring the C.D.C. had conducted of the precautions hospital workers took as they came in and out of Mr. Duncan’s room in the isolation ward.

A few questions occur to me, in no particular order:

1. How do they improve their protocols if they aren't sure where the protocols failed?

2. If their protocols can only be consistently and reliably implemented by a Sheldon Cooper relying on an eidetic memory and a fully engaged OCD, is it realistic to even call these "protocols", as opposed to "the wish list"? Let's note that Emory and the U of Nebraska have treated patients while avoiding any staff infections (yeah, we are doing hospital-themed puns; any time you want to join me in looking under the bottom of the comedy barrel, feel free). However, they seem to have 'above and beyond' procedures that an ordinary facility might not routinely employ.

3. We are sending 3,000 US troops to West Africa to aid the fight against Ebola. If our procedures don't fully protect health workers in Dallas, why would we expect them reliably to protect our troops in West Africa? And (assuming our procedures are not 100% effective) just what sort of infection and mortality rate would Obama consider to be an acceptable level of loss? I have not heard him orate on the topic of body bags with US troops coming back from Liberia.

METAPHOR FAILS: Look what else I found under the barrel! From the Mayor of Dallas, explaining that Ebola preparation involves many people across many areas:

"Literally hundreds of people somehow touched this to make it happen," Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said. "

I hope they all had gloves on. And here we go, from a touching bio of Nina Pham, the first infected nurse in Dallas:

"She’s able to make friends in any setting, any scenario,” Ms. Joseph said. “She has a contagious laugh.”

Now they are blaming her laugh?

 

Comments

[Extraneus]

Intentinally bringing it here via Cloward Piven?
Incompetence?
PC anti racism run amok?
Some combo of the above?
Something else?

Rush - according to Joan's description of his explanation from two threads ago - is surely right about why the administration would go to such embarrassing lengths as to offer patently illogical explanations for how closing the border to West Africans would actually make us less safe than leaving it wide open.

It's all about the Mexican border. They'll let Ebola in and hope for the best rather than do anything that might hamper their open border project.

(Primo?)

[glasater]

Segundo

[windansea]

A Liberian Ebola patient was left in an open area of a Dallas emergency room for hours, and the nurses treating him worked for days without proper protective gear and faced constantly changing protocols, according to a statement released late Tuesday by the largest U.S. nurses’ union.

Nurses were forced to use medical tape to secure openings in their flimsy garments, worried that their necks and heads were exposed as they cared for a patient with explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting, said Deborah Burger of National Nurses United.

…

RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of Nurses United, said the statement came from “several” and “a few” nurses, but she refused repeated inquiries to state how many. She said the organization had vetted the claims, and that the nurses cited were in a position to know what had occurred at the hospital. She refused to elaborate.

Among the nurses’ allegations was that the Ebola patient’s lab samples were allowed to travel through the hospital’s pneumatic tubes, opening the possibility of contaminating the specimen delivery system. The nurses also alleged that hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling.

[windansea]

DOOM

[James D.]

If the Obama administration actively wanted to degrade the moral and effectiveness of our healthcare system, stoke public fears and cause a major outbreak of ebola that would kill thousands of Americans...

What exactly would they be doing differently?

[windansea]

The nurses alleged that:
— Duncan was kept in a non-isolated area of the emergency department for several hours, potentially exposing up to seven other patients to Ebola;
— Patients who may have been exposed to Duncan were kept in isolation only for a day before being moved to areas where there were other patients;
— Nurses treating Duncan were also caring for other patients in the hospital;
— Preparation for Ebola at the hospital amounted to little more than an optional seminar for staff;
— In the face of constantly shifting guidelines, nurses were allowed to follow whichever ones they chose.
“There was no advance preparedness on what to do with the patient, there was no protocol, there was no system,” Burger said.
Even today, Burger said, some hospital staff at the Dallas hospital do not have proper equipment to handle the outbreak.

Hospital managers have assured nurses that proper equipment has been ordered but it has not arrived yet,” she said.
The nurses’ statement said they had to “interact with Mr. Duncan with whatever protective equipment was available,” even as he produced “a lot of contagious fluids.” Duncan’s medical records, which his family shared with The Associated Press, underscore some of those concerns.
Almost 12 hours after he arrived in the emergency room by ambulance, his hospital chart says Duncan “continues to have explosive diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and projectile vomiting.” He was feverish and in pain.
When Ebola was suspected but unconfirmed, a doctor wrote “using the disposable shoe covers should also be considered.” At that point, by all protocols, those shoe covers should have been mandatory to prevent anyone from tracking contagious body fluids around the hospital.

[GMax]

Politico sounds a tad bit despondent here don't they:

Faced with a perilous midterm environment and a sudden gush of Republican money, Democrats are shifting cash from blue-chip recruits to prop up teetering incumbents. The goal is to minimize losses and keep Republicans from their most dominant hold on the House since Harry Truman’s presidency — potentially expelling Democrats from the speaker’s chair for years to come.

[Cecil Turner]

If their protocols can only be consistently and reliably implemented by a Sheldon Cooper relying on an eidetic memory and a fully engaged OCD, is it realistic to even call these "protocols", as opposed to "the wish list"?

Exactly. My wife (who teaches nursing at the university level) says health care workers regularly breach "Standard Precautions" and that doctors are the worst offenders. Moreover, it's completely unreasonable to expect a random emergency room to have a perfect protocol response to the unanticipated arrival of an ebola patient. (Especially since the most analogous recent experience in implementing such protocols is the peak of the HIV epidemic in the '80s.) Implementing one dedicated ebola hospital per state is a step in the right direction, but the CDC's earlier claims of how it can't/won't spread here had a remarkably short lifespan.

It's worth noting that simple restrictions on casual travel from West Africa could've stopped these cases . . . And it's time to revisit that decision.

[peter]

with most hospitals in precarious straits financially, it seems unlikely that most are equipped to take the kind of extraordinary precautions required by an ebola outbreak; this along with the delayed impact of Obamacare could utterly collapse our healthcare system.... in short, DOOM

[Threadkiller]

University of Kansas Hospital officials say preliminary tests show a patient who arrived Monday with Ebola-like symptoms not have the deadly disease.

Chief medical officer Dr. Lee Norman said Tuesday the man is believed instead to have another tropical disease common in central and western Africa, although doctors haven’t determined which one.

http://www.ksal.com/kansas-patient-does-not-have-ebola/

Good to see we are back to SOP in medical guesswork.

How many unknown diseases are getting a free pass with the CDC's less is more strategy?

[Gus]

Dr Thomas HUSSEIN Freiden, there is a city serving BIG GULPS. Go get 'em!!

[MarkO]

DOOM™®

There is great danger.

[Beasts of England]

A dedicated Eboloa hospital in each state? I thought it was unlikely to reach our shores?

[henry]

Milwaukee is going all in to protect us from the worst. No, it's even worse than climate change: entire court system to shut down Friday for White Privilege propaganda fest.

[RickB]

How does that 'one hospital' deal work when medevac companies refuse to transport Ebola patients? What's appropriate compensation for spending a few hours in an ambulance with an Ebola patient with explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting?

How long is this 'gull the rubes' routine by CDC incompetents in the Maladministration going to continue?

[glasater]

Good Grief Henry!

OT

If anyone is wanting to watch some drama one will turn on CNBC or any favorite financial channel and watch what is going on in the markets.

[Janet]

OT - THis story is really gets me -

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/10/14/houston-subpoenas-pastors-sermons-equal-rights-ordinance-case-prompting-outcry/

"City attorneys issued subpoenas last month during the case’s discovery phase, seeking “all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession,” according to the Houston Chronicle."

So American citizens can be subpoenaed for speaking about Mayor Parker...but Senator Harry Reid can get up on the Senate floor & slander private American citizens by name with impunity.

[jimmyk]

And it's time to revisit that decision.

Barry revisit a decision? Admit a mistake? Not a chance. Now if it takes as a delay or non-enforcement (as with 404Care), or inaction (the "red line" in Syria) fine, but to make an affirmative act that acknowledges an error? Unpossible.

[NKreBootDeux]

Skoot brought up a very important poit last night. The Hospital Worker and cop/fire Unions. When they refuse to assume the risk of CDC's rank incompetence, what does Barry Do? Barry is a slave to the Unions, even the ones he doesn't like (cops/fire.) This is a potential disaster for the natio, but it most certainly a complete political disaster for the Progs.

[jimmyk]

"takes as" s/b "takes the form of"

[fdcol63]

I think we now know why FEMA and the Federal government have stockpiled tens of thousands of body bags and plastic coffin liners.

The Last Ship returns next season as a reality show.

[glasater]

Janet-

Hugh Hewitt was on a rant over your 9:41am post over all of that yesterday on his radio show.

He may have details on his blog. Haven't looked there yet this morning.

[Jim Eagle]

Does this joke remind you of any JOMer?

How Old Guys Pick Up Women

I'm getting on in years and probably not the best looking guy anymore.
Some would even say I'm a little frayed around the edges.

But, I have a nice car, a little money, and I spend most of my time casually
traveling from place to place and enjoying life.

I met a nice looking girl in a park the other evening. There was an
instant spark between us.

All of a sudden, she did this cute little dance, then immediately dropped
to her knees and lay on the grass at my feet.

As we lay there making love, I thought . . .. .. .

"Wow, these Taser Guns really are worth the money!"

[RickB]

NK,

You don't think Vote Democrat and Die is going to catch on?

Lyle Called It

Got bonds?

[Extraneus]

The subpoena of pastors' sermons is ridiculous. They should simply ignore it.

However...

I think it's a great idea, and I would be interested in going a bit further and requiring that public-access webcams be installed in all churches, synagogues and, most importantly, mosques.

That's not the "establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

[MarkO]

Fascists.

[Jim Eagle]

BTW, I wonder if CDC is in contact with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp where the most knowledgeable resources of African diseases reside. This is the place where Dr. Poit discovered Ebola back in the 70's.

[Marlene]

From the Bangor Daily via AP...Obama will spend the last week of the campaign appearing with Democratic gubernatorial candidates who are in tight races. Maine,Michigan,Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are the states,no dates are scheduled. Happy Halloween!

[Janet]

I think it's a great idea, and I would be interested in going a bit further and requiring that public-access webcams be installed in all churches, synagogues and, most importantly, mosques.

Well, my church already does that. A live feed every Sunday morning to the service.

Now let's get it going in the mosques.

[henry]

Heh, the guy's name is Bibb. O'Keefe strikes again. Gay activist warns investigator that if he tells anyone a D senate candidate is pro gay marriage, he'll track down and kill the investigator.

[Janet]

You know the next step will be to send men dressed as women into the churches to go into bathrooms & create a scene...then it will go to court.
Leftist judges will git-r-done.

[Frau Edith Steingehirn]

From Insty:

It’s worth noting that after the Republican takeover in ’94, the NIH budget rose until the Dems took over Congress in 2006. The Pelosi/Reid congress was the first to flatline the NIH budget in nominal dollars. If they’re not careful, someone might notice, take the Dems at their word that the decreasing NIH budget is the reason we don’t have Ebola drugs yet, and blame the Democrats.

[Beasts of England]

lol, JiB!

[Beasts of England]

The most important element of the CDC Ebola protocol is covering their own asses.

[Stephanie accidentally OnT?]

The most important element of the CDC Ebola protocol is covering their own asses.

That only works for HIV, beasts.

[Miss Marple]

When did that word "calculus" as opposed to "calculation" start being used? The first time I remember hearing it it was Obama who used it.

"Calculus" used to refer to nothing except the mathematical study of change OR calcified deposits on teeth.

Now I seem to hear it used everywhere as a substitute for "calculation."

Examples: "I would have to change my calculus on that issue" OR "My calculus shows we have a good chance of winning."

[Iggy]

--the NIH budget rose until the Dems took over Congress in 2006--

Not sure that's accurate. Appears to have peaked in 2004 in this chart.

[Stephanie accidentally OnT?]

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/africa-ebola-outbreak-2014/

The genie is out of the bag.

[Iggy]

In January you will be required in CA to carry your genie in a reusable bag.

[Janet]

Yeah...The libs are trying to ban plastic bags just when they will be needed more than ever!

[Extraneus]

I know this is the latest ebola thread, but the ebola discussion rages on the friedman thread instead...

[GMax]

Unlikely to be a runoff in Louisiana? That is what the Rasmussen Report sans Scott Rasmussen tells us in their release today:

Bill Cassidy (R) 52%
Mary Landrieu (D-inc) 43%

This is getting ugly if you go by Double Douchebag, which probably is why he is so scarce.

[Porchlight]

Wow, Gmax! I haven't seen either candidate near 50 in LA.

Things are really getting spicy now.