What ten minutes in an ER and some common sense will tell you is that triage nurses see it all and hear it all. They are probably the least racist people in the world. But they do not suffer fools.
Of course they sent him home. Do you think if he told them I was caring for an ebola patient two days ago they might have raised an eyebrow?
This guy’s death is his own fault.
We've had an occasional disagreement here on FR over the past few months, none of which were over major issues. On this matter, though, all I can say is an unqualified and very hearty:
Triage nurses simply categorize patients for immediate care by a doctor or care by a doctor that can “wait a little while longer in the ER”. They can’t “just send somebody home”! The doctor’s make that decision! I suspect this meme that “the nurses” did it is a corporate and political line being parroted to get the heat off the hospital and the politicians.
We RN’s get blamed for a lot but we can’t make up doctor’s orders and send patients home with scripts for antibiotics. The docs sent that patient home!
Early on, I read that even when he was still in africa, Duncan knew he had Ebola, and "didn't want to die". So he hopped a plane to the US where he could get [free] treatment. He had absolutely no regard for those he might infect.
Open borders, no quarantine - 0bama's recipes for our downfall. And keep in mind that, despite months of decrying that Ebola was out of control, most hospitals were (and probably still are) unprepared to handle patients.