E-Bola

You're not sufficiently afraid.

 

I will follow Starman's lead. I won't become concerned until he does.

 

I'm not particularly worried about Ebola yet, but this line of thinking seems misguided. This kind of thing is all about being prepared and having protocols in place to put a stop to it.

Those areas were prepared because Africa has been at risk for Ebola for many years. The U.S. has not been at risk, so whatever protocols we may have, are likely not practiced, followed or even well-known in American hospitals, as evidenced in Dallas.

It's like saying the Northeast handled 15 inches of snow during a storm last winter, so Atlanta should be able to handle 2 inches. In theory, yes, Atlanta should be able to handle it. But we all saw what happened last year.

Hopefully, American hospitals have taken notice and are now reviewing/practicing their protocols to ensure no other outbreaks occur.

 

Given their already tight budgets you have to wonder how many rural hospitals are willing to throw money at preparedness for something they would deem not likely to
happen in their area.

 

How much money is necessary? Isn't prevention more about protocols such as taping the wrists of surgical gloves, wearing booties, etc.? Doesn't seem like they need extra hazmat equipment, right?

 

Don't know so I am hoping some of SJ medical experts can ring in. From what I've read the Dallas Hospital did not have the right equipment for their nurses which tells me that some additional equipment is needed beyond what would be normally be kept at a large hospital. Then you need isolation rooms. Does every hospital have those or would they need to be built? And what about first responders? Are they properly equipped? Who would pay to properly equip them?

 

What frightens me (a bit ... some ... well, not a little) is the degree to which containing this disease is contingent on the cooperation of those who are potentially infected. And I worry how cooperative people will be if they know that all of their worldly possessions, including pets, likely will be destroyed. Given the way our world works, it wouldn't take a very high rate of non-cooperation for efforts to contain the disease to be stymied.

 

Good points.

 

The protocols are not that different from containing an outbreak of any other disease. Plus, all other things are not equal between the U.S. And Nigeria healthcare systems..

 

I just loaned $50,000 to a representative of the Nigerian Health Care system. I received an e mail saying they need fast infusion of US dollars and that in 2 months I
would receive back my original $50,000 plus an additional $25,000. Seemed like a
nice way to assist and also make some money.

 

According to the CDC site, there is a fairly extensive list of Ebola-specific protocols that hospitals would have to know, practice and follow.

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/infection-prevention-and-control-recommendations.html

According to the link, "Standard, contact, and droplet precautions are recommended for management of hospitalized patients with known or suspected Ebola virus disease (EVD). Note that this guidance outlines only those measures that are specific for EVD."

It then lists about 30 protocols specific to to known or suspected EVD patients. The differences between EVD precautions and standard precautions are significant enough that if hospitals are not ready to enact them immediately, it could pose a threat.

I'm just saying that I believe that "if Nigeria can do it, we can do it," minimizes the preparation necessary to stop the spread. At it's core, yes, you're right. If they can do it, we can do it. The question is whether, at this moment, hospitals are prepared for to stop it from spreading and becoming a much bigger issue.

 

Jon Stewart takes the media to task for its ebola alarms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/jon-stewart-ebola_n_5987818.html