Posted on 10/13/2014 2:06:38 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A theory, for your consideration:
Problem: Since 1976, the attack rate among doctors and nurses caring for Ebola patients has been uncommonly high, higher, in fact, than household contacts.
Theory: The protective gear gets heavily contaminated (preliminary data from Emory confirms). When it is removed, the chance of accidental contamination exists. The virus is adapted to a temperature range of 37.8-38.3, and skin under the suits warms up. Transfer is facilitated by moisture, and the suits make the wearers sweat. Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF), who decontaminate their body suits with bleach, have only lost one worker since March.
Conclusion: Something about the protective gear process, probably removal of contaminated gear, carries a significant risk of transfer.
Just a theory, mind you, but it fits the facts.
I keep thinking about all the emergency crew that had to deal with Duncan both times.. in quarantine still, and Nina Pham comes up positive. Miserable.
We should have a celebration for every one of them that walks out of their 40-day quarantine.
Do you think Nina contracted with a needle stick or those routers they put on you that sends different drips to different body parts? I forget the name of them.
True. EMT’s are the “force recon” of the medical field. I’m a cop and I’ve worked a lot with you guys. Nothing but respect here for what you do.
CC
Also the process of ‘scrubbing’ probably leaves micro-abrasions, strips the protective oil coating of the hands and forearms. Getting a manicure leaves microabrasions on the fingertips. Shaving leaves microabrasions on the face and neck.
What’s the ebola awareness state in copland? Thank you for your service, Sir.
1. The USA does not have 1/50th of the hazmats suits needed to equip every hospital in the nation to deal, on an ongoing basis, with even a couple of Ebola patients at a time.
2. Hazmat suits, or some vital component of them, are no longer manufactured in this country, or are manufactured only on a boutique scale that cannot possibly be ramped up to a useful level in less than a couple of years.
Anyone know when and where they intend to picket? I`ll help out with a sign demanding Obola close all flights from West Africa LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE DONE ALREADY!
Your heart is in the right place, TX. They should be celebrated heroes, be they unwittingly or willingly in harms way, our preservation was their proscription, and our prayers should be to put God’s protective light around them.
I think that these petite nurse in moving the very large, Mr. Duncan when changing his diaper, could have had her protective apparel inadvertently pushed aside in the struggle.
And to your point, there was aerosolization such as during intubation or suctioning, and that made her vulnerable. Frieden alluded that the aspect of dialysis, and I think, the possibility of his personal liquids could be sprayed, was a vector of infliction.
But just like the left does not want to call or describe an enemy by its name or means, this political appointment to the head of CDC, will not make more of Ebola as a contagion, lest it interfere with the steady prying of our open borders policy.
I am so glad you reminded us of those who have dutifully quarantined themselves, including a returning missionary in AZ, need our thoughtful best wishes for the agony they are suffering in solitary.
God Bless you!
And they are talking heads intoning from afar, speaking with their weird crypto- ivy league voices, like Obama and the rest of those inbred totalitarians, who think modulated fluff is enough to settle the restiveness of those who are rightfully concerned.
Take the money out of Barry’s golf and vacation budget and buy them the suits.
I can’t speak for other agencies, but failure to carry and use universal precautions (e.g. gloves, CPR masks, anti microbial wipes, etc.) is a punishable offense. I know of at least 1 officer who received at least 3 days off without pay for not obeying standing health policies. I also know officers who have contracted TB and Hep. C because they didn’t follow health protocols. My agency takes it quite seriously. Thanks for the thanks, i just had my twentieth anniversary of service last week. I’m shooting for 25, but I may be medically retired due to back issues. I’m having back surgery next week.
CC
Excellent point. Those are entry points that could let the micron-sized viruses in. They are giving the health care workers the protective gear less than what is needed to be impervious to a level 4 biohazard virus.
Furthermore, according to the CDC website, in case a healthcare worker comes in contact with bodily fluids, they are instructed to use eye wash or soap and water.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/infection-prevention-and-control-recommendations.html
>Persons with percutaneous or mucocutaneous exposures to blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions from a patient with suspected EVD should
Stop working and immediately wash the affected skin surfaces with soap and water. Mucous membranes (e.g., conjunctiva) should be irrigated with copious amounts of water or eyewash solution>
Really is that enough. Not a chlorine solution, like the student nurse did who saved her family using her DIY methods?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3214066/posts
Good Luck on surgery! I am very tempted to pull over all the cops I see everyday and ask them what they expect over the next month and what the citizenry can do to help.
At some point the people and the police are going to have to re-bond, after the rogues and parasites are fired.
Yeah, I read that thread, very uplifting. Good genes, or divine intervention and assistance, uncommon common sense? She only lost one patient, a cousin.
And from what I understand, aren’t all her family now able to donate their ebola-resistant blood? That’s what Brantley is doing.
This group was on FNC last night saying they must have the same level of Hazmat as is SOP for CDC, basically a sealed head to toe with outside umbilical positive air supply and a decontam Buddy System to assist the staff from making another mistake.
This is one time when a union is doing what they all should be doing, protecting workers.
There is a major problem in the American hospital and medical system as a whole.
It is based on a “push” inventory system.
What this means that other than small on-hand stocks of supplies and equipment, there is almost no surplus. So when a hospital runs out of something, it has to borrow that item from another hospital. With even a minor problem, every hospital in an entire region is stripped of that thing.
To put this in real terms, during a typical flu season, the US needs about 100,000 respirators nationwide. Nationwide we only have about 104,000. If we need more than that, they must be rationed, and somebody will have to do without.
And, to make it much worse, because of many reasons, the US is experiencing more and more drug shortages. Here is the FDA’s drug shortage list, a good link to bookmark.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/default.cfm
A scary thing is that to find out about these shortages, the FDA solicits the public to let them know of shortages, because they are often the first to know.
Okay, now this being said, about those HAZMAT suits...
A typical suit has a rather short lifespan. Ordinary wear and tear means that this very expensive ensemble will need to be replaced at frequent intervals.
While shelling out over $1,000 per suit isn’t two bad for a major event, doing it more than a few times can add up to some serious dollars.
I agree abut the bad cops. Agencies need to find ways to deal with them because they make the decent cops jobs that much harder. Cops can’t do their jobs effectively without the consent and help from the public.
Ditto, but in reading Homer J. Simpson's WW2 clippings, you'll often come across a union going on strike in the middle of WW2!
Ruin healthcare and infect the country with a deadly disease and no cure, thank you mr president
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