Changes to Ebola Protection Worn by U.S. Hospital Workers

[casey]

After two nurses in Dallas tested positive for Ebola after helping to care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian who died of the disease last week, federal health officials decided to tighten the guidelines for American hospitals with Ebola patients. Many hospitals, including those in the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System and the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha ? one of four facilities in the country with biocontainment units equipped to isolate patients with dangerous infectious diseases ? have long had more stringent guidelines than the C.D.C.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...a-protection-worn-by-us-hospital-workers.html
(includes an illustration showing the 3 levels of PPE)

 

[franzpick]

Re: Changes to Ebola Protection Worn by U.S. Hospital Workers

"Dallas County leaders are preparing to request a state disaster declaration because of the Ebola crisis. The commissioners will meet Thursday to request additional state funding and resources. The cost to the county for the first Ebola patient alone, Thomas Eric Duncan, was more than $1 million.

There have now been three people diagnosed in Dallas. The latest, 29-year-old Amber Vinson, is a nurse who had extensive contact with Duncan before his death. She is also the first Dallas patient to be transferred out of state for specialized treatment.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/26798025/dallas-leaders-prepare-to-request-state-disaster-declaration

 

[Dani]

Re: Changes to Ebola Protection Worn by U.S. Hospital Workers

I queried a leader of the local unified health command yesterday and he said they already had much stricter PPE protocols in place than the CDC recommends, in the very unlikely event an Ebola patient lands on our doorstep. We practically never see tropical diseases of any kind here, yet they had it figured out.

When this is all over, I hope someone with some medical training does a retrospective analysis and writes a book about what went wrong with this epidemic. Sort of "And The Band Played On," for Ebola.