Ebola in the US

[vickie gee]

Some of my co-workers that were ordered to deploy are already gone. They had to go from one corner of the state to the extreme opposite corner to get physicals and train on how to use personal protection equipment that I have to wonder if it will actually get provided to them. Some failed their physicals. Some are getting out of going by providing a doctor's statement. A couple of the ladies that were supposed to fly out yesterday were not notified of their flight. For sure I am concerned about them all but have managed to keep it zipped at work. Life is full of choices.

 

[vickie gee]

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding an Ebola hearing Friday and is inviting Klain to testify, but the White House says he won't be attending since he just started his new job.

Well alrightee then. Glad I am not on an airplane with him as the pilot. Geeeeeeeeez.

But as Carriage has said: above all one should be prepared for eternity. I often wonder if The Rapture is going to take place in my lifetime. Whether or not it does, I do not want to be here during the Great Tribulation. Except of course in the final act where all is required of me is to ride a white horse. Not ashamed to admit that all the situations going on in the world right now has had me in chapters of the Bible relevant to the end times.

 

[Jill]

Well, go figure! He's a lawyer so predisposed to cover his butt and he has NO medical background. Long, long time leftwing spin "doctor", but simply a professional lefty with a law degree. What could go (further) wrong?

 

[AngC]

I heard one doctor (not infected and not a recent volunteer) on the news say that he would stop volunteering if he had to be quarantined upon his return, because he didn't want to "lose" 3 weeks. I can kind of understand that here's this guy volunteering for a month and then would have to stay away from his practice for an additional 3 weeks. But... When somebody volunteers, they are volunteering to take a risk. I should have a choice whether I want to be exposed to that risk. And telling me that I should just suck it up because I have a greater risk to be killed in a car or by the flu is baloney, because it is my choice when I drive in a car; it is my choice whether or not I get the flu vaccine. I really don't feel comfortable having government entities and politicians dictating their ideas of how much risk I have to take. If this virus didn't have such a high kill-rate, it wouldn't bother me as much.

New York and New Jersey are being criticized for the quarantines. Is it wrong to try to protect people? ...people who didn't volunteer and who maybe don't want to risk dying with some pretty uncomfortable symptoms. It's not like anyone's asking the volunteers to be Typhoid Mary-ed and be quarantined for 20 years.

You'd think doctors would be most cautious, but the infected New York doctor (Spencer) apparently didn't want to self-police himself. Four days after his return, he felt "fatigued and exhausted." Maybe he could have just stayed home and watched a movie and got some rest. Instead, he gallivanted around the city for 3 days until the fever developed. Did he infect anyone? Who knows? Unfortunately I don't trust the CDC and the news outlets that emphasize that ebola is not contagious via airborne transmission (coughing, sneezing.) There have been studies dating back as far as 1995 that show airborne transmission of the virus is possible. A 1999 study was conducted by a division of the CDC. I think the CDC is downplaying the risk to prevent panic.

Oh, and hopefully somebody told the virus that it's only allowed 21 days.

 

[Sonya]

Soldiers returning from Ebola infested areas have to be quarantined, why should medical professionals be any different?

I'm sure many of the health care professionals have a great heart for volunteering but there are also many who do it for their 'resume'. I think it is selfish of them to not want to be quarantined.

 

[Jill]

Exactly! Especially when one group takes a medical oath and has extensive training in medical treatment and another group is trained to protect our Nation.

 

[Minimor]

Why don't we insist that all medical staff--even those working in Omaha and Atlanta--who have worked with an ebola patient be quarantined in a tent with a portapotty and no shower or running water???

 

[vickie gee]

Mini, ouch! That is rather harsh, don't you think? I get the point, so no flame suit here. Besides, it would be so unfashionable with my tin foil hat. Yes, anyone working with ebola patients should have mandatory quarantine. That nurse that is wanting to stay with her boyfriend and self quarantine for a time is imho being selfish. What if he has the male gene that makes them tend to stray?? I'm sorry did not mean to point my finger at males. Pardon, please. Rather, what if he is a weak minded human that is not monogamous? I personally do admire any healthcare worker that is willing to put themselves at risk because they are devoted to saving lives and believe that they can make a difference. The thing is I am not a health care worker so no way would I try to build myself up to say if I could I would. To me that falls right in line with "if a frog had wings he would not have drag his butt every time he hopped." That being said, moreover, if I were a healthcare worker I would not volunteer to go there because what little difference that I might make is not going to thwart what I believe in my heart is the real agenda. My belief is that it is a bioweapon that has been developed genetically to target a specific race. I believe that what is going on in our country is a trial run that for now is merely intended to create hysteria. I believe it will get better. Then it will get worse down the line and could very well end up being no respecter of race as the vaccines roll out with one being "for me but not for thee" as Carriage so aptly put it. I believe it will only be a respecter of the selectly determined privileged. Is anyone besides me curious as to why those African leaders came to visit el presidentae'? Was it to set the plan in motion for Operation United Assistance? How many answers are there? Maybe I just have a lack of trust in those with the world's best interests in mind. I seem to have misplaced my rose colored glasses.

 

[Minimor]

Harsh? I believe that is more the word for the nurse's quarantine conditions, which is why I do not blame her for protesting.

I think in America any quarantine can be in better surroundings than what was provided to her--I would request that I be quarantined at home too, if I were in her situation.

I would make a perfectly lousy nurse--no chance of me ever working in health care, even if I didn't have to deal with Ebola, lassa or anything similar. A patient with ordinary flu would be beyond what I could care for and clean up after. Stick a needle in someone to draw out fluids? Yech!

 

[AngC]

I seem to be technically-challenged and can't get the quote thing to work. I was trying to reply to Minimor.

Tent, portapotty, lack of shower and running water???

Come on... really?

Why does this have to be about some sort of civil rights thing? This is an infectious disease. It has the capability to kill people. It is especially disturbing that doctors with access to fairly decent protective gear are sometimes being infected. You'd think the doctors would be the experts. You'd think they would be able to properly use the protective gear. If the doctors can't totally evade the disease, what about the rest of us? And a doctor, like the dude in New York, really could have kept his butt at home as a precaution.

 

[Minimor]

Yes, he could have stayed at home. They all could...but I do not think a tent is appropriate for a forced quarantine.

And come on...how many people have been infected by the traveling nurse? None. How many have been infected by the NY doctor? None. How many were infected by Duncan? Two. Both nurses.

Maybe--just maybe--this is not so easy to catch in a first world country, as "they" have been saying.

 

[Jill]

Water off a duck's back. Most people who put thought and research into forming opinions aren't rattled if someone else disagrees. Hoping a lot of us feel that way. You know how it goes... Your opinion of my opinion doesn't change my opinion. Plus, if an opinion that is not personal does get to someone to the point they're ticked off, they probably wish they didn't think you've made a valid conclusion.

 

[Minimor]

Exactly Jill--that is how it is.

 

[Sonya]

I agree her quarantined area should have been better, but if the doctors and nurses are so concerned about the greater good they would have no problem with a quarantine. If you put that woman in the Ritz-Carlton I still think she would complain. If I had direct contact with a patient and got the disease and ended up infecting others because I was to selfish to follow a request to be quarantine, I would feel awful.

I had my Ebola briefing at work the other day, if we are told by a pilot that a passenger is sick (which happens quite frequently) we have to follow certain guidelines, which include notifying the DEN (domestic event network). They must be concerned!

 

[Sonya]

Just read that the nurse is home where she was asked to not leave and guess what, she did anyway, so she's not in a tent but still can't comply.

 

[Minimor]

I saw that just now too--not sure why staying home is such a hardship--I would have not problem with that at all. The tent when she was quarantined in NJ--I don't blame her for that, but now that she is home she shouldn't be complaining about staying there for a couple more weeks.

 

[Ashley]

I to would love to just stay home, after being away from home 12-13 hours 5 days a week I would be happy to just stay put. That said I feel its very selfish of them to not follow the rules. YOu wanted to help others, it was her choice to go and risk getting sick. Come back and get people sick it isnt their choice but rather the persons on selfishness. I do think she should be allowed to be out in her own yard, but shouldnt be allow to leave her property.

 

[vickie gee]

I'm confused. Was the nurse ever in a tent? I actually do not know the story. Mini, I took it that you meant all medical staff at risk should have the tent with portapotty as their quarantine conditions which would seem harsh enough that there would be less and less medical volunteers. This thread was the first I heard of a tent. My bad, I think. I only got a little bit of the story from the radio yesterday morning when I heard she wanted to stay at her boyfriend's and decide for herself when she should go out in public.

So what really is the story of this nurse?

 

[Minimor]

From what I read when she was quarantined in NJ she was in a tent. Now she has been allowed to go home to Maine, so no more tent.

No--my comment re all medical staff was pure sarcasm...I do NOT think any such thing! Sorry for the confusion. I am just do sick of the hysteria!

Everyone says they would happily be quarantined if it were them. You know what I think? Talk is cheap when it isn't actually "you". I suspect about 90% of those saying that would sing a different tune if it were actually them in the situation.

Do many not realize quarantine isn't the answer? If there were a serious outbreak here in America, you couldn't possibly quarantine every health worker that came into contact eith an infected patient--because there would soon be a shortage of people to care for the ill.

 

[vickie gee]

Thanks for the clarification. Another sarcastic person! Yay, maybe I don't have to be an island.