When the nephew called the CDC about Mr. Duncan, and the CDC told him how to proceed,

[pnwmom]

did they tell him to warn the medics that they might be transporting an Ebola patient?

If not, why not?

If so, then why wasn't the ambulance and crew taken out of circulation immediately after the pick-up (instead of two days later)?

[Louisiana1976]

1. Those are very good questions. I wonder if the paramedics were warned that they were going to be

transporting an Ebola patient.

[In_The_Wind]

3. I seriously doubt it.

[tblue37]

9. nbc.com has an article about his girlfriend's daughter, who called for the ambulance:

"Jallah said she is the one who called for the ambulance and told the paramedics he was from a 'virus zone' and should be checked for Ebola and cautioned them to put on masks."

[elehhhhna]

2. IIRC he said he called CDC after Uncle got to the ER the SECOND time

[pnwmom]

4. Where did you read that? I've read over and over that he called because Duncan was sent home. n/t

[elehhhhna]

5. quote here=

Health officials have acknowledged that Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, was initially sent home from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas when he showed up on Sept. 26 complaining of fever and abdominal pain. He had to return two days later in an ambulance.

That was the day "I called CDC to get some actions taken, because I was concerned for his life and he wasn't getting the appropriate care," Duncan's nephew, Josephus Weeks, told NBC News on Wednesday night. "I feared other people might also get infected if he wasn't taken care of, and so I called them to ask them why is it a patient that might be suspected of this disease was not getting appropriate care?"

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-patient-thomas-eric-duncans-nephew-i-had-call-cdc-n216326

[pnwmom]

6. I didn't interpret that the way you did. I believe the nephew is saying that he called on the 26th

to talk to the CDC, because his uncle was at home and not getting appropriate care -- and then he was directed to take him back to the hospital.

They thought the hospital knew he could have Ebola because of what he told them when he went in the first time.

[elehhhhna]

7. read it again. or are you saying the cdc was notified days before the guy was sent in ambulance?

He had to return two days later in an ambulance.

That was the day "I called CDC to get some actions taken, because I was concerned for his life and he wasn't getting the appropriate care," Duncan's nephew, Josephus Weeks, told NBC News on Wednesday night.

[pnwmom]

8. No, I'm saying that the nephew called the CDC on the same day but before Duncan

went to the hospital in the ambulance. IOW, he called the CDC and they put him in touch with the state health authorities who told him to get him back to the hospital.

[kestrel91316]

10. We don't know the timing. He seems pretty aware, the only one in the bunch with

a clue, frankly.

He might only have been able to speak to a lower level flunkie, or maybe the paramedics came in the meantime.

He's the LAST person in this picture to blame for problems.

[pnwmom]

11. I agree. He acted correctly. It seems to me the CDC and the hospitals were woefully unprepared.

"Learning by doing" is not an acceptable mode in this situation. We should have learned everything we needed to know by observing the situation in West Africa.

[kestrel91316]

12. The feds have a handle on it, having developed very effective protocols.

Texas public health and the hospital seem to have chosen to disregard those protocols. Now that CDC is on scene they are playing catch up, showing the children how the adults do things.

But Texans hate the feds and always think they know better. Huge egos in that state.

[pnwmom]

13. The CDC doesn't yet have a handle on the very serious medical waste issue.

But they promise an answer in "days." (They first promised an answer "in days," on September 24. Then again today.)


http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-health-ebola-waste-idUSKCN0HR07T20141002

(Reuters) - The United States is days away from settling the critical question of how hospitals should handle and dispose of medical waste from Ebola patients, a government official said on Wednesday.

Experts have warned that conflicting U.S. regulations over how such waste should be transported could make it very difficult for U.S. hospitals to safely care for patients with Ebola, a messy disease that causes diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases, bleeding from the eyes and ears.

Safely handling such waste presents a dual challenge for regulators, who want to both prevent the accidental spread of the deadly disease and avert any deliberate attempts to use it as a bioweapon.

Most U.S. hospitals are not equipped with incinerators or large sterilizers called autoclaves that could accommodate the large amounts of soiled linens, contaminated syringes and virus-spattered protective gear generated from the care of an Ebola patient, said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Public Health Committee.

SNIP

[kestrel91316]

14. Waste disposal is not the CDC's responsibility. It is a local or state responsibility.

CDC can issue guidelines.

IMHO they need to just incinerate it all, end of problem.

[pnwmom]

15. It's the responsibility of the CDC to draw up the guidelines, and they haven't done it yet.

And very few hospitals have large enough incinerators, so that's the problem.

From the link I just showed you:

"Most U.S. hospitals are not equipped with incinerators or large sterilizers called autoclaves that could accommodate the large amounts of soiled linens, contaminated syringes and virus-spattered protective gear generated from the care of an Ebola patient, said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Public Health Committee."

[kestrel91316]

16. I remember a time when all hospitals had incinerators for their medical waste.

Or so I thought.

This idea of throwing it "away" now poses a problem, eh? No one could have forseen that.

[pnwmom]

17. I do, too. But not anymore. Of course, I also remember

the smell of burning leaves every fall.