But that is the issue, is it not? Having this physician wandering around NYC incubating and possibly shedding Ebola is very troubling but at least the guy knew what was causing (or very likely causing) his fever and could alert EMTs, the hospital staff, etc. In the busboy scenario there is no warning, very much like Duncan wandering in off the street, and many more people are exposed than in the physician scenario.
So this year, more than ever, get your flu shot so that you don't end up in the doctor's office or the local doc-in-a-box facility, or emergency department with all the other sick patients, some of whom may have ebola.
Thanks to the idiots in the state and federal governments, I have to show up in my doctor's office no less than once every 60 days--no exceptions. The last time I went in, I wanted to douse myself with Clorox afterward. I've always been a "germophobe" (kids' word) but Ebola makes my skin crawl right off my body.
There have been many who have pooh-poohed the potential for Ebola to spread widely here in the U.S. because of our superior health care system. What they fail to understand is that precisely because we're used to being able to go the doctor for usually minor ailments such as the flu, we may actually bring the system to its knees, and facilitate the spread of Ebola.
How many times since March have those same people been proven wrong? "It won't get to an urban area, it kills too fast." "It won't spread in an urban environment, better conditions than in the hinterlands." "Oh no, it can't be spread in the US via nosocomial routes, we have this covered." You'd think these fools would realize that making unsupported assumptions, and worse claiming those assumptions are facts, will come back to bite in the very near future. If they don't have experimental data to back up the statement, the only thing I want to hear from these people is, "we aren't really sure but we're preparing for X."
As an aside, I'm hearing from several sources that the soldiers being deployed to Liberia are not at all happy about it. Many say they'd rather be deployed to Iraq than Liberia. I just ran across this seriously underreported phenomenon at the The Washington Post. When the commander has to "defend its Ebola precautions as stricter than CDC’s, [and try] to reassure troops" there is a very serious problem.
From the story:
The comments came a few days after Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a video with an obvious goal: Speaking directly to his troops to reassure them that those who deploy in support of the U.S. effort to stop the spread of the Ebola virus will be OK.
“While our mission in west Africa will not include direct patient care, the safety and health of the men and women of our joint force and their families remains of the greatest importance to me and the Joint Chiefs,” Dempsey said. “We’re making sure that the men and women who deploy are provided with the right training and the proper protective equipment. We have ensured that the highest medical and safety protocols are in place before, during and after deployment.”
That such a video was made and distributed tells me the brass is hearing the same things I've heard.
It is certainly one of the big issues, but there are others, too. This presentation wasn't so much about the epidemic as a whole, but rather, what are the policies, procedures, and preparations being done in our hospital, specifically. Of course, prepping for that specific scenario is a huge part of that, and they really don't have any answers.
If they don't have experimental data to back up the statement, the only thing I want to hear from these people is, "we aren't really sure but we're preparing for X."
Very well said. All the media should use that as their mantra, rather than simply regurgitating the words they hear from CDC without giving them any thought. But of course, we are talking about the MSM. So all hope for serious thought going into their questions and reporting is misplaced.
Speaking directly to his troops to reassure them that those who deploy in support of the U.S. effort to stop the spread of the Ebola virus will be OK.
I've never been in the military, so it's easy for me to say, but I wonder when some of these commanders are going to come to the conclusion that it's time to disobey an order or two. All behind the scenes, of course.
And I sure hope the peer pressure is huge for those soldiers not to fraternize AT ALL with any residents of the countries where they're deployed.
Officials Tracing New York Ebola Patient’s Movements, While Reassuring a Wary CityYou'd think these fools would've learned something from the CDC's epic failures over the past two months.“New Yorkers who have not been exposed to an infected person’s bodily fluids are simply not at risk,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Friday afternoon. (define "exposure" and "bodily fluids," please.)
“We have the finest public health system, not only anywhere in the country but anywhere in the world,” he said. “We are fully ready to handle Ebola.”