CDC threw this nurse under the bus

[Anonymous]

You guys realize the CDC role was expanded under Obama to cover school lunches and other BS? Talk about stupid!

[Anonymous]

Obesity epidemic IS a national security concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tom Frieden is a clown and should step down from the CDC after making these outrageous statements. I still have yet to hear a valid reason why travel has not been banned from these countries? What is the impact of keeping 150 travelers from Africa out of the US vs. forcing an entire plane of passengers to make an unscheduled landing? Yes, that happened last night. How about having to take ambulances out of service? How about losing health professionals to quarantine or worse, illness? How about being unable to accept patients by ambulance in an ER (Dallas)? How about having to monitor hundreds of at risk family, friends and neighbors for close to a month? Just a handful of patients like this could completely overwhelm the system.

I heard it's about relations with the country, ie political. Our lives are pawns in Obama's narcissistic game of being viewed as a world sage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She just recently posted about getting her Critical Care Certification. There is no way she should have been taking care of the first "in the wild" case of Ebola in the US.

You might not be familiar with the criteria used to get a CCRN. You have to have a minimum of 2000 bedside hours before you can even test for the certification. This is not a new nurse so to speak. She has been at bedside for four years. Working in ICU for at least two years does give her experience. We may never know what happened to expose her to ebola. This nursecis NOT a rookie if she has a CCRN.

Also, you don't kmow if the hospital asked for volunteers or mandatory assignment. I'll bet they asked for volunteers first

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She is said to be in a stable condition. Please do not start to panic and whip-up unnecessary hysteria.

You sound like you work for the CDC.

Or at least someplace in this administration (the most transparent administration in history).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obesity epidemic IS a national security concern.

More so than ebola? Please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys realize the CDC role was expanded under Obama to cover school lunches and other BS? Talk about stupid!

I just can't get over the level of stupidity of some posters on DCUM. Man, do you ever pick up a book before you spew ignorance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She just recently posted about getting her Critical Care Certification. There is no way she should have been taking care of the first "in the wild" case of Ebola in the US.

You might not be familiar with the criteria used to get a CCRN. You have to have a minimum of 2000 bedside hours before you can even test for the certification. This is not a new nurse so to speak. She has been at bedside for four years. Working in ICU for at least two years does give her experience. We may never know what happened to expose her to ebola. This nursecis NOT a rookie if she has a CCRN.

Also, you don't kmow if the hospital asked for volunteers or mandatory assignment. I'll bet they asked for volunteers first

This is helpful, thanks for filling us in. I'm not sure if she had tested for it or if she was just starting to work on it.

I do agree though, four years nursing with 2 years in ICU is experienced enough to take on a case. I just feel like they should have specialists flown in (or the patient flown out). How could ANY nurse be ready for this without specialized training and facilities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here come the lawyers.

You do not want justice for someone who was wronged?

What could possibly be the basis for a lawsuit? Saying something mean? if its coming up with a protocol that was insufficient, she would have to prove she didn't make any mistakes. They need a better protocol, thats for sure, but this is not a lawsuit.

She's probably eligible for worker's compensation, but not a lawsuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She just recently posted about getting her Critical Care Certification. There is no way she should have been taking care of the first "in the wild" case of Ebola in the US.

You might not be familiar with the criteria used to get a CCRN. You have to have a minimum of 2000 bedside hours before you can even test for the certification. This is not a new nurse so to speak. She has been at bedside for four years. Working in ICU for at least two years does give her experience. We may never know what happened to expose her to ebola. This nursecis NOT a rookie if she has a CCRN.

Also, you don't kmow if the hospital asked for volunteers or mandatory assignment. I'll bet they asked for volunteers first

This is helpful, thanks for filling us in. I'm not sure if she had tested for it or if she was just starting to work on it.

I do agree though, four years nursing with 2 years in ICU is experienced enough to take on a case. I just feel like they should have specialists flown in (or the patient flown out). How could ANY nurse be ready for this without specialized training and facilities?

She received her cert so she had to have already tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YUP THEY THREW HER UNDER THE BUS...AND THEY EXPECT US TO TAKE CARE OF THE NEXT VICTIMS?

Hmmmm

I'm sure you'll feel better if she dies than your ass won't have to pay a dime. You don't mean "expect us to take care." You mean "me take care." Don't put everybody in your self-righteous, self-centered equation.

It is not self righteous! I am in health care and if this is how we treat folks who get sick while taking care of others then, I'm gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here come the lawyers.

You do not want justice for someone who was wronged?

What could possibly be the basis for a lawsuit? Saying something mean? if its coming up with a protocol that was insufficient, she would have to prove she didn't make any mistakes. They need a better protocol, thats for sure, but this is not a lawsuit.

She's probably eligible for worker's compensation, but not a lawsuit.

Definitely workers' comp. This is an 'industrial' accident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YUP THEY THREW HER UNDER THE BUS...AND THEY EXPECT US TO TAKE CARE OF THE NEXT VICTIMS?

Hmmmm

I'm sure you'll feel better if she dies than your ass won't have to pay a dime. You don't mean "expect us to take care." You mean "me take care." Don't put everybody in your self-righteous, self-centered equation.

It is not self righteous! I am in health care and if this is how we treat folks who get sick while taking care of others then, I'm gone.

You should leave and leave NOW. The brave and noble people willing to step up and put themselves on the front line need support and the best infectious prevention training in the world.

Even with high risk prevention training, you don't sound like high risk medical care candidate because you are self-centered. Thst's not a slam. I sense with the best PPE gear, you still wouldn't have the cojones to step up to the plate. It takes more than just PPE gear to put yourself in such a dangerous situation.

I think that Dallas nurse is a hero, a real one. I guarantee her medical peers, the real ones, are going to take care of her whether she made a mistake in disrobing or not.

[Anonymous]

This is how a nurse in Sierra Leone suits up against Ebola:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/13/ebola-nurses-describe-life-death-on-frontline-liberia-sierra-leone

Sue Ellen Kovack, 56

Australian Red Cross nurse, Kenema, Sierra Leone

We need to synchronise putting the PPE on with other team members, because if one is slower than the rest we end up waiting and baking in the sun. We have a dresser to make sure we are completely covered, or we work in pairs and check each other. First on are gloves and a jumpsuit. Then a second pair of gloves, a thick duckbill mask, a hood, and an apron that is tied by the dresser so we can untie it with one pull. Then on go the goggles with a generous drizzle of antifogging spray, a final check in the mirror and a final check with each other. The checking does not stop there, as we must ensure during our time in the high-risk area that we are still covered, that a mask has not slipped, or that a piece of skin has not been exposed. If that happens, we leave the area immediately. We check the time – 45 minutes to one hour is the maximum allowed in the PPE.

And here is what she does after her 45 minute to one hour shift:

A minimum of five minutes is needed to undress. We have two tents, where the undressers and sprayers need to be on the ball. The urge to just pull the suit off is strong, but we wait. First, the chlorine spray to the hands. Then, feet apart, arms in the air, we are sprayed from head to toe, first the front, then the back. We wash our hands in 0.5% chlorine. Off come the first set of gloves.

We wash our hands again. Off comes the apron and hopefully it was tied perfectly, as we have to blindly reach around to release the knot; we pull it over our heads. Into the chlorine soak it goes. We wash our hands.

Next go the goggles. We bend over, close our eyes and gently remove them, dunk them three times in the strong chlorine-filled bucket, and then place them in water. We wash our hands.

The hood comes off next. Once again, we bend over, closing our eyes to avoid contamination and dispose of the hood in the garbage. We wash our hands.

Next, the removal of our heavy PPE. Moving slowly – we do everything slowly here – we carefully expose the zipper, hidden under a taped-down flap. We wash our hands. Blindly, we have to find the zipper, as our undressers and sprayers guide us. We wash our hands.

As we shimmy out of our PPE, we are soaked to the bone in sweat, but it feels great. This is the hardest part: to ease off the jumpsuit while kicking your legs back, at the same time standing on it so it doesn’t fly away from you. It’s a balancing act. The sprayer sprays the entire jumpsuit with a stronger chlorine solution and we put it in the garbage. We wash our hands.

Our heavy-duty filtration mask is next. I close my eyes and hope it doesn’t catch in my ponytail. We wash our hands.

The last pair of gloves comes off. Our boots are sprayed from all angles and we have to balance on one foot to cross the line from high risk to low risk. We wash our hands and we are done, stripped down to our scrubs, soaked with sweat.

I need a rehydration solution or water. No food is allowed in the low-risk area. It is too risky to put anything near your mouth from your hands. But I still see people biting their nails, touching their face, rubbing their eyes – risky but automatic responses. Your hands have been washed a trillion times in chlorine, but still, you don’t know how safe your other colleagues have been. You are literally entrusting your life to your work mates. Before I left Australia, I took to wearing a rubber band and each time I caught myself touching my face, I snapped it painfully so I would remember not to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is how a nurse in Sierra Leone suits up against Ebola:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/13/ebola-nurses-describe-life-death-on-frontline-liberia-sierra-leone

Sue Ellen Kovack, 56

Australian Red Cross nurse, Kenema, Sierra Leone

We need to synchronise putting the PPE on with other team members, because if one is slower than the rest we end up waiting and baking in the sun. We have a dresser to make sure we are completely covered, or we work in pairs and check each other. First on are gloves and a jumpsuit. Then a second pair of gloves, a thick duckbill mask, a hood, and an apron that is tied by the dresser so we can untie it with one pull. Then on go the goggles with a generous drizzle of antifogging spray, a final check in the mirror and a final check with each other. The checking does not stop there, as we must ensure during our time in the high-risk area that we are still covered, that a mask has not slipped, or that a piece of skin has not been exposed. If that happens, we leave the area immediately. We check the time – 45 minutes to one hour is the maximum allowed in the PPE.

And here is what she does after her 45 minute to one hour shift:

A minimum of five minutes is needed to undress. We have two tents, where the undressers and sprayers need to be on the ball. The urge to just pull the suit off is strong, but we wait. First, the chlorine spray to the hands. Then, feet apart, arms in the air, we are sprayed from head to toe, first the front, then the back. We wash our hands in 0.5% chlorine. Off come the first set of gloves.

We wash our hands again. Off comes the apron and hopefully it was tied perfectly, as we have to blindly reach around to release the knot; we pull it over our heads. Into the chlorine soak it goes. We wash our hands.

Next go the goggles. We bend over, close our eyes and gently remove them, dunk them three times in the strong chlorine-filled bucket, and then place them in water. We wash our hands.

The hood comes off next. Once again, we bend over, closing our eyes to avoid contamination and dispose of the hood in the garbage. We wash our hands.

Next, the removal of our heavy PPE. Moving slowly – we do everything slowly here – we carefully expose the zipper, hidden under a taped-down flap. We wash our hands. Blindly, we have to find the zipper, as our undressers and sprayers guide us. We wash our hands.

As we shimmy out of our PPE, we are soaked to the bone in sweat, but it feels great. This is the hardest part: to ease off the jumpsuit while kicking your legs back, at the same time standing on it so it doesn’t fly away from you. It’s a balancing act. The sprayer sprays the entire jumpsuit with a stronger chlorine solution and we put it in the garbage. We wash our hands.

Our heavy-duty filtration mask is next. I close my eyes and hope it doesn’t catch in my ponytail. We wash our hands.

The last pair of gloves comes off. Our boots are sprayed from all angles and we have to balance on one foot to cross the line from high risk to low risk. We wash our hands and we are done, stripped down to our scrubs, soaked with sweat.

I need a rehydration solution or water. No food is allowed in the low-risk area. It is too risky to put anything near your mouth from your hands. But I still see people biting their nails, touching their face, rubbing their eyes – risky but automatic responses. Your hands have been washed a trillion times in chlorine, but still, you don’t know how safe your other colleagues have been. You are literally entrusting your life to your work mates. Before I left Australia, I took to wearing a rubber band and each time I caught myself touching my face, I snapped it painfully so I would remember not to do it.

This is so enlightening! Sometimes we learn from those who have the least versus locations (USA) that have the most.

Thanks for sharing this!!