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Sloppy
protocols: second healthcare worker from Dallas hospital tests
positive for Ebola
October
2014 – DALLAS - A second health care worker at Texas Health
Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for Thomas Eric Duncan has
tested positive for Ebola, the Texas Department of State Health
Services announced. The unidentified health care worker reported a
fever Tuesday and was isolated at the hospital, authorities said.
The
preliminary Ebola test was run late Tuesday at the state public
health laboratory in Austin, and results were received at about
midnight, authorities said. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has begun confirmation testing. Health officials
interviewed the patient, hoping to track down any contacts or
potential exposures in the community, the CDC said in a statement.
“While this is troubling news for the patient, the patient’s
family and colleagues and the greater Dallas community, the CDC and
the Texas Department of State Health Services remain confident that
wider spread in the community can be prevented with proper public
health measures including ongoing contact tracing, health monitoring
among those known to have been in contact with the index patient and
immediate isolations if symptoms develop,” the CDC said in a
statement.
The
diagnosis follows days after nurse Nina Pham, 26, who also treated
Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola. Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola
Sept. 30 and died Oct. 8. CDC Director Thomas Frieden had previously
suggested that Pham may not be the only person who became infected
while treating Duncan. “It is possible that other individuals could
have been infected,” Frieden said. Ebola has killed more than 4,000
people, mostly in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Guinea, according to recent figures by the World Health
Organization. -ABC
Claims
made by nurses:
On the day that Duncan was admitted to the hospital with possible
Ebola symptoms, he was “left for several hours, not in isolation,
in an area where other patients were present,” union co-president
Deborah Burger said. Up to seven other patients were present in that
area, the nurses said, according to the union. A nursing supervisor
faced resistance from hospital authorities when the supervisor
demanded that Duncan be moved to an isolation unit, the nurses said,
according to the union.
Claim:
The nurses’ protective gear left their necks exposed: After
expressing concerns that their necks were exposed even as they wore
protective gear, the nurses were told to wrap their necks with
medical tape, the union says. “They were told to use medical tape
and had to use four to five pieces of medical tape wound around their
neck. The nurses have expressed a lot of concern about how difficult
it is to remove the tape from their neck,” Burger said.
Claim:
At one point, hazardous waste piled up – “There was no one to
pick up hazardous waste as it piled to the ceiling,” Burger said.
“They did not have access to proper supplies.”
Claim:
Nurses got no ‘hands-on’ training – “There was no mandate for
nurses to attend training,” Burger said, though they did receive an
email about a hospital seminar on Ebola. “This was treated like
hundreds of other seminars that were routinely offered to staff,”
she said.
Claim: The
nurses ‘feel unsupported’ – So why did the group of nurses —
the union wouldn’t say how many — contact the nursing union,
which they don’t belong to? According to DeMoro, the nurses were
upset after authorities appeared to blame nurse Pham, who has
contracted Ebola, for not following protocols. “This nurse was
being blamed for not following protocols that did not exist. … The
nurses in that hospital were very angry, and they decided to contact
us,” DeMoro said. And they’re worried conditions at the hospital
“may lead to infection of other nurses and patients,” Burger
said. A hospital spokesman did not respond to the specific
allegations, but said patient and employee safety is the hospital’s
top priority.
–WCTI
Second
Ebola patient traveled on commercial airline day before symptoms
appeared – CDC requests passenger list
October
2014 – DALLAS – Second
health-care worker with Ebola traveled on Frontier flight 1143 from
Cleveland to Dallas on Oct. 13, CDC says in e-mailed statement. CDC
asking 132 passengers on flight to call 1-800-CDC-INFO, plan to begin
interviewing passengers about flight, monitoring those who need it.
Health-care worker exhibited no signs, symptoms of illness while on
flight, according to the airline crew. “At approximately 1:00 a.m.
MT on October 15, Frontier was notified by the CDC that a customer
traveling on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort
Worth on Oct. 13 has since tested positive for the Ebola virus.
The
flight landed in Dallas/Fort Worth at 8:16 p.m. local and remained
overnight at the airport having completed its flying for the day at
which point the aircraft received a thorough cleaning per our normal
procedures which is consistent with CDC guidelines prior to returning
to service the next day.
It was also cleaned again in Cleveland last
night. Previously the customer had traveled from Dallas Fort Worth to
Cleveland on Frontier flight 1142 on October 10.
Customer exhibited
no symptoms or sign of illness while on flight 1143, according to the
crew.
Frontier
responded immediately upon notification from the CDC by removing the
aircraft from service and is working closely with CDC to identify and
contact customers who may traveled on flight 1143. Customers who may
have traveled on either flight should contact CDC at 1 800 CDC-INFO.
The safety and security of our customers and employees is our primary
concern. Frontier will continue to work closely with CDC and other
governmental agencies to ensure proper protocols and procedures are
being followed.” –Zero
Hedge
Nurse
transferred to Isolation Ward:
A Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola is being transferred to Emory
University Hospital in Atlanta.
An ambulance with a crew clad in
hazardous-material suits arrived at the hospital Wednesday afternoon
and left for Dallas Love Field. There, aerial video showed the crew
leading a person in a yellow hazmat suit and booties onto a jet.
A
statement from the Atlanta hospital Wednesday said Amber Joy Vinson
was being transferred to Emory from Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital Dallas.
However, a spokeswoman for the Dallas hospital
declined to confirm that Vinson had been removed from the facility.
Vinson was one of the nurses who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, who
died at the Dallas hospital last week of the Ebola virus.
Another
nurse is in good condition receiving treatment for Ebola. ''
Below:
Nurse boards plane in full hazmat suit enroute to Emory for
treatment.
NBC’s
Medical ‘Expert’ Under Quarantine For Ebola Caught In Public
EDT
14
October, 2014
As
part of the film team that was with a freelance cameraman in Liberia
when he contracted Ebola, Dr. Nancy Snyderman was ordered to stay in
her house for at least 21 days until it was established that they
were not infected. Instead, Snyderman was caught out-and-about in New
Jersey as if nothing were wrong.
According
to Gawker, a tipster who was familiar with Snyderman and knew of her
movements, told the site that she was spotted outside of her house
and subsequently reported to the police:
Dr.
Nancy Snyderman, the NBC on-air doctor whose cameraman was diagnosed
with ebola, is supposed to be under quarantine for 21 days. She
happens to live in my neighborhood in Princeton, NJ, where her
reputation as a bit of an arrogant specimen had me idly remarking
last night that if ever there were someone likely to flout the
quarantine and leave their house, it was her.
Fast
forward to today: my wife and a friend are virtually certain they
spotted her in a car outside a restaurant in Hopewell, NJ within the
past hour. She sent a guy in to retrieve her food and remained in the
car. It appeared that as soon as she thought she’d been spotted,
she looked away and put on sunglasses. My wife’s friend immediately
called both the Hopewell and Princeton police, who said they’d
“look into it.”
The
police investigation must have found proof of that claim, because the
very next day they upgraded Synderman’s “scouts honor”
quarantine, to a full-scale police enforced one. Officers have since
begun being stationed in front of her house to ensure that she
doesn’t leave.
It
might be understandable if Snyderman were just a naive citizen, but
she isn’t. Synderman is NBC’s Chief Medical Correspondent and as
such, also their Senior Person Who Should Know Better. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t appear that she does.
In
a statement, Snyderman was defensive and indignant about being asked
to stay inside for 21 days so that, you know, she doesn’t give
other people Ebola. She also seems to miss the point of what a
quarantine is all about, surprising for a doctor.
While
under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to
avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those
guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until
21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are
normal.
As
a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no
risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this
episode caused. We are thrilled that Ashoka is getting better and our
thoughts continue to be with the thousands affected by Ebola whose
stories we all went to cover. (source)
Emphasis
added because the hubris is terrifying.
Fortunately,
it seems likely that neither Snyderman nor any other members of the
NBC team contracted Ebola from their colleague, but it also doesn’t
mean that Snyderman should be taking that gamble so that she can
personally pick up take-out. Ebola has so far been minimized within
the United States, being contained to just one person — a nurse who
treated a patient in Dallas — but it’s important that caution is
exercised and protocols are enforced to ensure that it doesn’t get
worse.
After
the incident, the Department of Health ordered the crew to stay in
quarantine until October 22 to make sure they really are as healthy
as they believe they are.
In
happier news, the cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia appears
to be getting better. On October 13, he tweeted a positive message
and thanked well wishers.
Racism in the health system
Exclusive:
Ebola didn’t have to kill Thomas Eric Duncan, nephew says
By
JOSEPHUS WEEKS
 |
14
October, 2014
On
Friday, Sept. 25, 2014, my uncle Thomas Eric Duncan went to Texas
Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. He had a high fever and stomach
pains. He told the nurse he had recently been in Liberia. But he was
a man of color with no health insurance and no means to pay for
treatment, so within hours he was released with some antibiotics and
Tylenol.
Two
days later, he returned to the hospital in an ambulance. Two days
after that, he was finally diagnosed with Ebola. Eight days later, he
died alone in a hospital room.
Now,
Dallas suffers. Our country is concerned. Greatly. About the lack of
answers and transparency coming from a hospital whose ignorance,
incompetence and indecency has yet to be explained. I write this on
behalf of my family because we want to set the record straight about
what happened and ensure that Thomas Eric did not die in vain. So,
here’s the truth about my uncle and his battle with Ebola.
Thomas
Eric Duncan was cautious. Among the most offensive errors in the
media during my uncle’s illness are the accusations that he knew he
was exposed to Ebola — that is just not true. Eric lived in a
careful manner, as he understood the dangers of living in Liberia
amid this outbreak. He limited guests in his home, he did not share
drinking cups or eating utensils.
And
while the stories of my uncle helping a pregnant woman with Ebola are
courageous, Thomas Eric personally told me that never happened. Like
hundreds of thousands of West Africans, carefully avoiding Ebola was
part of my uncle’s daily life.
And
I can tell you with 100 percent certainty: Thomas Eric would have
never knowingly exposed anyone to this illness.
Thomas
Eric Duncan was a victim of a broken system. The biggest unanswered
question about my uncle’s death is why the hospital would send home
a patient with a 103-degree fever and stomach pains who had recently
been in Liberia — and he told them he had just returned from
Liberia explicitly due to the Ebola threat.
Some
speculate that this was a failure of the internal communications
systems. Others have speculated that antibiotics and Tylenol are the
standard protocol for a patient without insurance.
The
hospital is not talking. Until then, we are all left to wonder. What
we do know is that their error affects all of society. Their bad
judgment or misjudgment sent my uncle back into the community for
days with a highly contagious case of Ebola. And now, officials
suspect that a breach of protocol by the hospital is responsible for
a new Ebola case, and that all health care workers who care for my
uncle could potentially be exposed.
Their
error set the wheels in motion for my uncle’s death and additional
Ebola cases, and their ignorance, incompetence or indecency has
created a national security threat for our country.
Thomas
Eric Duncan could have been saved. Finally, what is most difficult
for us — Thomas Eric’s mother, children and those closest to him
— to accept is the fact that our loved one could have been saved.
From his botched release from the emergency room to his delayed
testing and delayed treatment and the denial of experimental drugs
that have been available to every other case of Ebola treated in the
U.S., the hospital invited death every step of the way.
When
my uncle was first admitted, the hospital told us that an Ebola test
would take three to seven days. Miraculously, the deputy who was
feared to have Ebola just last week was tested and had results within
24 hours.
The
fact is, nine days passed between my uncle’s first ER visit and the
day the hospital asked our consent to give him an experimental drug —
but despite the hospital’s request they were never able to access
these drugs for my uncle. (Editor’s note: Hospital officials have
said they started giving Duncan the drug Brincidofovir on October 4.)
He died alone. His only medication was a saline drip.
For
our family, the most humiliating part of this ordeal was the
treatment we received from the hospital. For the 10 days he was in
the hospital, they not only refused to help us communicate with
Thomas Eric, but they also acted as an impediment. The day Thomas
Eric died, we learned about it from the news media, not his doctors.
Our
nation will never mourn the loss of my uncle, who was in this country
for the first time to visit his son, as my family has. But our nation
and our family can agree that what happened at Texas Health
Presbyterian Hospital Dallas must never happen to another family.
In
time, we may learn why my uncle’s initial visit to the hospital was
met with such incompetence and insensitivity. Until that day comes,
our family will fight for transparency, accountability and answers,
for my uncle and for the safety of the country we love.
Josephus
Weeks, a U.S. Army and Iraq War veteran who lives in North Carolina,
wrote this piece exclusively for The Dallas Morning News. Reach him
at josephusweeks@yahoo.com.
Second Ebola-Infected Nurse Identified, Was Symptomatic With 99.5 Degree Fever While Flying
15
October, 2014
Just
about an hour ago, the CDC's Tom Frieden held a press conference in
which he tried to diffuse the CDC's incompetence for a allowing
healthcare workers who cared for the now deceased "Index
Patient" Thomas Eric Duncan, to board a plane. A worker, who as
was reported earlier today, was confirmed sick with the deadly virus.
Still, in order to defend his agency from accusations of gross
incompetence, of which it clearly is guilty, Frieden said that...
- NEW PATIENT HADN'T BEEN BLEEDING OR VOMITING BEFORE FLIGHT
...
Although, he promptly pushed the ball of blame back in her court
adding that:
- NEW PATIENT KNOWINGLY EXPOSED TO EBOLA,SHOULDNT HAVE FLOWN
But
what is worse, is that as the WaPo
reports the
nurse had a fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit before boarding a
passenger jet on Monday, a day before she reported symptoms of the
virus and was tested, according to public health officials. "Even
though there appeared to be little risk for the other people on that
flight, she should not have traveled that way, Thomas Frieden,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said
during a news conference Wednesday."
“She
should not have flown on a commercial airline,” Frieden said.
The
reason he said that is that since she was clearly symptomatic, she
was also contagious. Which explains why the CDC is scrambling to
uncover all those passengers who may have flowen with her.
Furthermore,
the nurse has now been identified: "The health-care worker was
not identified by public health officials, but family members told
Reuters and the Dallas Morning News that her name is Amber Vinson, a
nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She was part of a team
that had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who flew to
Texas and was diagnosed with Ebola last month, during his
hospitalization in Dallas. Duncan died last week. Nina Pham, a nurse
who also cared for Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola on Sunday."
And
where it gets simply ridiculous is that not only did the nurse fly
once, she flied a second time, this time from Cleveland to Texas on
Monday.
Vinson, who flew from Dallas to Cleveland on Friday, flew back to Texas on Monday, a day after Pham was diagnosed. She reported a fever on Tuesday and was isolated and tested for Ebola.
Still, the fact that she boarded a commercial flight raises the question of how much the other 50 health-care workers who entered Duncan’s room could have traveled or moved around in recent days. The CDC recommends controlled movement on private flights or vehicles for people who may have been exposed to Ebola, Frieden said.
Meanwhile,
the panic to contain the possible spread of the airborne virus is
full blown: as WFAA
reports,
"Frontier Airlines says the plane stayed at DFW International
Airport overnight, and has since been cleaned. It traveled to
Cleveland on Tuesday and was cleaned again. The airline says Vinson
traveled to Ohio from Dallas-Fort Worth on Flight 1142 on Oct. 10.
"The
safety and security of our customers and employees is our primary
concern. Frontier will continue to work closely with CDC and other
governmental agencies to ensure proper protocols and procedures are
being followed," the airline said in a press release.
Some
other details:
Wednesday morning, Mayor Mike Rawlings confirmed that Vinson lives alone without pets at The Green in the Village Apartments, in the 6000 block of Village Bend near Skillman, just north of Lovers Lane.
Police and Dallas Fire-Rescue teams were at the complex early Wednesday, cleaning common areas and knocking on doors, communicating with neighbors. Reverse 911 calls were sent out at 6:15 a.m. to people who live in the area.
"We rallied together and we decided that we needed to move quickly like we did Sunday morning," Mayor Rawlings said.
He added that the state has hired a company to come in Wednesday afternoon and clean Vinson's apartment and car.
Like Pham, Vinson had also been involved in caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola one week ago at Presbyterian. More than 70 hospital employees had been involved in that effort and are still being monitored.
So
despite the epic Snafu that Tom Frieden has managed to achieve, and
we fully expect that airplane travel will see a substantial decline
until the Ebola pandemic is indeed contained, we will give him props
for telling one piece of the truth this weekend, when he said that
"more Ebola cases are likely going to emerge." At least
this time, he was telling the truth
2nd
Ebola Patient's Akron, Ohio Family Home Cordoned Off
15
October, 2014
Having now
identified the 2nd health care worker infected with Ebola as Amber
Joy Vinson, and discovered she (against CDC advice) traveled across
the nation to
her family home in Tallmadge (near Akron, Ohio), we now find out
that, as
WKYC reports, police
have cordoned off the home of her mother and are allowing only
limited access to the residential development.
Dallas nurse Amber Joy Vinson spent last weekend in Tallmadge, an Akron suburb, before testing positive for the Ebola virus.
Summit County Public Health officials are still trying to determine who Vinson may have seen and where she went while she was visiting family. A family member has already self-quarantined himself in a Tallmadge home following Vinson's positive test.
Interviews to determine Vinson's whereabouts are expected to take time, said Summit County Public Health Medical Director Margo Erme, and people will be interviewed twice to determine whether or not they were in contact with Vinson.
"We have been in there all day to see if there are additional contacts and to see where those additional contacts may be, and also the nature of those contacts," Erme said.
Quarantine needs will be determined on an individual basis, Erme said.
Health officials learned the Vinson had been in the county at around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Police have taped off a home in Tallmadge they believe belongs to the mother of Ebola patient Amber Vinson.
The home is on Stonegate Trail, in the Stonegate Reserve housing development.
At one point, about seven police cars were outside the home and later, that number went down to three
Police are only allowing limited access to the development for residents.
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