I think this whole episode shines a bright light on how unprepared we are to deal with any epidemic.

We would be resorting to mass graves in a few weeks if this was as contagious as something like the whooping cough.

Every hospital in the US must be 100% prepared to deal with this, from recognizing the symptoms to disposing of the hazardous waste, and clearly, we are not there yet.

I would hope we could concentrate on learning about the virus itself, but maybe that should take a back seat to the problem staring us in the face now.

I guess I always assumed there was some sort of system for this type of thing, perhaps stemming from all those drills we took in school.

In the whole state of Texas, there is not a list of companies who can carry bio-hazards? Boy, am I naive for thinking somewhere, someone knew just what to do in this case. Guess there is no money in that.

They seem to have no clue.

And has anyone figured out how the latest guy got infected?

Last edited Fri Oct 3, 2014, 12:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Mr. Duncan was apparently exposed to Ebola by carrying an infected pregnant neighbor to a taxi to seek help at a hospital in Liberia. Several hospitals turned her away and he and the woman's family ended up taking her back home where she died several hours later.

ETA-ah, I see now. There is another possible case in Wash DC.

...my lack of hysteria. We've already learned that physicians and hospitals think it's a "nurse's job" to take a travel history.

Hysteria is overblown. Just worry some that it is Texas, I live here and I most certainly do.

We were asked about travel and where we had been by the paperwork we had to fill out, the admitting nurse, the nurse back in the ER room and the doctor. Nobody took what was on the computer screen as gospel and each verified what we had written on our paperwork. But it should be like that all over, especially considering what we're dealing with now.

Hubby was in their for shortness of breath and cold sweats, and we've had some enterovirus cases around here, which I'm thinking is maybe why they were so thorough. They weren't that way 10 months ago when I went in for pain and vomiting (turned out to be a kidney stone).

didn't they arrive with the necessary permits for transporting biowaste on Texas highways?

It's less the civil servants and medical staff that are seeping away my confidence.

It's the system.

Lack of infrastructure. Trained personnel who are properly equipped.

that a hospital in a major city with a large Liberian population (and thus lots of travel by Liberian Americans and Liberian nationals) sent home a Liberian national after he arrived at their ER with with symptoms that could have been Ebola and having just come from Liberia.

In the event someone has a highly infectious disease- they need to be taken care of immediately.

having said that, with all the focus that's been on ebola and the CDC assurances that we're prepared, there's no excuse for this clusterfuck.

This whole 'do it cheap or don't do it at all' ethos pervading the place can be deadly....

prevent women from having abortions,
it's all good in Texas.

The whole apartment complex may be toast.

told CNN that she poured Clorox all over the bed. I mean, huh?

So now they're all breathing Clorox fumes in there?

This is insane.

Remember they are not allowed to leave apartment for 3 weeks.

I think I would be tempted to live in my shower!

Why the hell those people were left in a contaminated apartment is beyond me. Oh, wait, they were poor black immigrants. Duh.

Evacuate them to a clean and controlled space, cut them a check for the contents and them burn them on site. Meanwhile, come up with a decent plan for waste management.

State health officials should be not only telling her what to do, but actually doing the decontamination for her.

Spaces.

Posted this recently, which was more about the hospital issues with waste disposal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025606162

Seems like there were assumptions in place that this part would just be 'handled' ok by somebody (else) and that is not reassuring news. Add to that the trend in the U.S. to privatitize, outsource and send functions to the lowest bidder (who may maintain low bids by keeping people at part-time or hiring the fewest workers needed).

This area needs to be addressed, and addressed well.

It's not in any way special. Handling Ebola-contaminated waste is the same as handling MRSA-contaminated waste. Some special clothing, sealed containers, and transport to a facility where it can be autoclaved or incinerated.

Bureaucracy at work. The same permits they have to transport and remediate other biohazards should be sufficient for this waste, as well. Silly people making silly rules about things they don't understand.

Uff da!

For the life of me, i can't figure out how this has turned into such a cluster **** .... I just know that it has!

Will they go in with hazmat suits? Will they put the patient in a hazmat suit?

If the woman becomes ill, what will they do with the children?

Are they even thinking of these contingencies?

before this is over.

National cleaning crews, national furnaces and disposable plans....whatever is needed to do this properly. Anything else is deadly patchwork.

Absolutely agree that a nationwide protocol needs to be put into place.
And that needs to be for everything from the cleaning to the quarantine to evacuation to care for the people affected and contingencies for children whose parents are hospitalized or die.
We actually have loads if examples if what the issues can be from what has happened in Africa.
And experts have already been raising this issue.
But it seems they weren't listened to in the same way that Doctors without Borders was not listened to in the earlier stages in Africa.

... who thinks this is starting to sound like a Hollywood movie script? A series of unforeseen bureaucratic screw-ups is certainly a favorite fall guy for letting loose the "monster".

... Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Dustin Hoffman can save us, I suppose!!! Doesn't look like the drownable government or profit-driven private sector are going to cut it.

Why exactly is the CDC relying on "the Cleaning Guys"?

sarcasm

there are going to be a lot of errors, and the whole fuckin process is learning and correcting.

you want a handle on this thing? we have the experience, it is contained. and they are "bungling" as they learn. fuckin life.

i am saying to self, more than others, lol. but.... i am still watching and learning. and i am just not seeing it as others, on this board.

this job has been passed off to a company that supposedly specializes in this and yet didn't even arrive with the required permits for transporting the waste on the highways.

for each new transport -- or is it a blanket permit for the company?

of biohazard cleanup and disposal? Seriously?

has the government not sent in a handful of professional cleaners yet? There's people trapped in a small apartment - aren't there young children there, too? kids are difficult to control and keep calm and from moving around - having to use the same toilet and sink I assume, as the sick man did. This is incredible and I hope repercussions are had to whom deserves it. And who does? Who should have sent cleaners in?

The family trapped in there is black too, aren't they?

Will they take all the furniture and leave those poor people sitting on the floor?

Fer fuck's sakes, how many more fuckups is it going to take?