And now that the election is over, Ebola will fade from public view. On one of these comment sections, somebody wrote that the federal government asked for a news blackout on all future returning health care workers. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I think it’s a great idea.
Though it is closing-the-barn-door-after-the-horse-got-out, I would also expect that the Federal Customs people have found some alternative work-around that allows them not to rely on Chris Christie and the New Jersey State Police for law enforcement backup in Newark.
There was a lot on non-scientific info thrown around, including here on Daily Kos. One person kept suggesting that the doctors needed to look into using enemas to rehydrate Ebola victims; and another commenter would not let go of the notion of protective quarantine. That's part of what happens when public health interfaces with general public. A more lasting effect is the way that politicians used this event to whip up fear and hysteria, which was well described in a New England Journal of Medicine article - Panic Paranoia and Public health.
for most of the public, we move on. those of s who take care of patients, need to take new knowledge and wisdom and move on, sadder but wiser.
I started blogging on infectious diseases back in 2011 when “Contagion” was released, but my bedside experience with victims of these illnesses goes back to 1977 when I first became a Registered Nurse. No, I am not a virologist, or CDC worker. I am not a “consumer’ in the sense of being in the general public. But I am one of those persons who will go into the room and talk with the actual person suffering from the disease and help implement a treatment plan, therefore I read up on these things. I’ve been a nursing manager and educator and I’m presently working in a Low Income Country, teaching critical care nursing
One of my first Ebola blogs was “Don’t send more doctors to West Africa” – a title I chose because I knew it would draw readers in. The premise was we needed to look at sending more nurses, teaching new practices such as not touching the body of a person who had just died of the disease, and better quality of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Then of course we had the debacle in Dallas Texas, and learned that the PPE needed revision. I personally was astounded to learn that for each Ebola victim, eight 55-gallon drums of medical trash will be generated per day. The practice in Dallas was to store it in an adjacent room.
Hospitals motivated to protect reputation and bottom line
There have been reports that the general public has been staying away from the hospital in Dallas where that patient was admitted and the two nurses acquired the infection. In a nursing blog it was described as resembling a place on “Lockdown” – nobody in the corridors; once-bustling areas eerily silent.
I am sure there were many good nurses and doctors working there, but it was an unmitigated public relations disaster for which the final effect on the bottom line has yet to be quantified. I think every hospital in the USA is now motivated by fear – fear that their own bottom line will suffer if it is ever revealed that an Ebola victim has been present in the building or on their campus.
My name is on some registries of Travelling Nurses and I get occasional emails extolling the virtues of being a travelling nurse. Since the Dallas event, I now get emails specifically listing the opportunities for Dallas Texas, several times a week. Is this a coincidence? Would you take a thirteen week assignment in Dallas right now if you were a specialized nurse?
Hysteria
I was astounded at the way that the governors of New Jersey and Maine were willing to whip up hysteria in this recent episode of the returning nurse who had worked in West Africa. I think the nurse was heroic, and upheld the highest values of the nursing profession in “speaking truth to power” when her rights were violated. The GOP and the right wing propaganda machine was very quick to vilify and slander her, to the point of encouraging people to complain to the nursing board that issues her RN license. Those frivolous complaints are going nowhere, but the I feel like the GOP just bitch-slapped the entire nursing profession. And I don’t use that term lightly. They seem to have no idea what nurses do, and to further their political point they attacked the entire profession.
The only good to come of this episode is that we now have better training materials for care of Ebola victims. Doctors Without Borders has posted a set of training videos on the web, and the link is here
(note: these do not have audio. They were intended to be narrated in one of the various languages of volunteers, by an experienced person)
Also, the CDC now has a series of videos for training, which describes the steps in detail. Be advised, to view that one, you need to submit a short quiz as to the type of PPE used by your agency.
Maine
On the Maine Department of Human Services website, there are now some documents as well, some of which were added only during the episode with the nurse who was being monitored. Click here for the link.
The documents include a decision tree for what to do when first responders are called for possible Ebola, and a risk stratification tool, And also a very specific procedure for handling of medical waste in these cases.
And so the health care-Industrial complex has incorporated new awareness into the treatment of infectious diseases in the USA.