Charges and counter charges between health care workers, Presbyterian hospital and the CDC are flying, but one thing looks…
pretty certain. When this is all said and done, we may count Presbyterian Hospital and it’s doctors and nurses and staff among the victims of ebola, and that is a bad thing for our entire area.
I’m certain mistakes have been made at Presbyterian but I doubt any other hospital around the country would have fared much better, given what we now know about the preparedness of the CDC and it’s guidelines and training, or lack thereof, for medical workers.
The ebola threat has been top of mind at the CDC for months now. They knew there was a possibility that someone in the U.S. would contract the disease. And yet, every day the CDC comes off as more and more unprepared.
Why didn’t anyone at the CDC anticipate that there was no way every local hospital across the country that happened to receive an ebola patient could be expected to properly handle a disease about which so little is known? Why didn’t they anticipate the need for regional facilities or traveling teams of medical personnel specifically trained in ebola protocol, that now seem to make so much sense?
Hindsight is 20/20, but did the CDC know so little about ebola as not to anticipate some of this? That’s a disturbing question.
I’m sure Presbyterian Hospital has made many errors along the way here. At least one health care worker on my twitter has said Presbyterian has acted not only ineptly, but arrogantly tried to cover up it’s mistakes.
But I honestly feel sorry for the doctors and staff there. I’m pretty sure they are trying their level best. Bottom line for me, the CDC’s preparation for this and direction for the health care industry appears to have been at best inadequate,; at worst, abysmal, and ebola will claim far more victims than was perhaps ever necessary.
What are your thoughts on this? Please tell me, I’m interested.
I don’t think blaming the CDC is correct. They told to have protocols in plac . If the hospital didn’t follow the protocols, how is that CDCs fault? The media is blowing this way outta proportion to the point people are scared to fly, take their kids outta school and consider leaving the country. David Muir of ABC news said the first nurse was “fighting for her life”, while the hospital said she was in good condition and tweeting people.
One thing I agree with you on Kyle, the media may be blowing this out of proportion, but the CDC did not help matters any by failing to give the media and all of us a voice to trust.
It seems to me that the CDC fell way short of what was expected of them! Each step along the way they have made mistakes! Clearly, it shows that they were not prepared for Ebola. It really isn’t too surprising though, it seems like, with almost everything, in this country, we “react to” new things, instead of being prepared beforehand!
Pretty much my thoughts Derek, thanks for the comment.
I’m really mad at the person who came into our country by lying on the forms. He knew he was exposed and came here anyway. To his family who think this hospital and our country had one thing to do with his demise. He put his family and our country I great harm. But by all means J Jackson come and defend them above your own people. AMERICANS!!! Not just show up because they were black. Your the biggest racist in our country. I’m mad and I hope the American people are getting sick and tired if this inept government. Democrats and republicans for that matter.
Thanks Malinda, I think anyone can understand the temptation to lie in order to hopefully get into this country with it’s superior medical care, but in fact it was the wrong thing to do. Sad but true.
I totally agree with you, Jane. How would our hospital have even entertained the thought to have a test run for a virus they have never dealt with? They aren’t perfect, but those trained in infectious disease control should have been in Dallas immediately to help with this, and we should have sent the patients to a facility trained in handling this(I see we have now with the latest victim). CDC needs to step up.
Hopefully that’s what they will do Terri, quickly.
Presbyterian Hospital is taking a lot of undeserved criticism. CDC should have known that Ebola would eventually end up in America and have plans in place for a crisis center. They should not have expected every hospital in the country be prepared to handle these cases. Yes, the hospital made some mistakes but not out of any maliciousness. Their staff was thrown into a hurricane, being the first hospital to have a case show up in the ER. The CDC is playing too nicey nice in dealing with this. It needs to be dealt with by mandatory quarantine and flight restrictions.
Except my the mandatory quarantine and flight restrictions, which I would have to know more about, I pretty much agree Kathy. Thanks.
How can you blindly defend Texas Health Presbyterian? Out of generic “let’s have a good attitude” logic? The big picture most people don’t watch much news, or any news. Or they would of seen our President and the CDC saying our country was ready in the unlikely event an Ebola case should come to our country. But the simple small picture is by admission of Gov. Rick Perry and the Director of Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas, they said “we got this under control, we’re ready, we can handle this” after the first Ebola patient was diagnosed.
So how much so how much more warning did Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas and the hospital’s staff need to make them understand what they were expected to do, or not do such as traveling on a plane.
Come on get real. By Dallas’ mayor, & Gov. Rick Perry, and all news networks, they say Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas is a world class health provider, as good as it gets.
Get real. The CDC issued their recommendations for hospitals weeks ago
in prepetation for this event. Texas Health Presbyterian Dalllas had proper knowledge how to protect their employets, but in A-typical fashion of the “nonchalant weak don’t give a damn” attitude at all levels inluding staff and management, Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas management did not take precautions to protect these nurses. That is the lazy norm for supervisors at this hospital chain. If the right news investigator looks deep enough, they will find a long record of such behavior, litigations, cover ups, and pay outs so specifics of cases can’t be talked about by patients who were wronged.
The nurses were given world class educations. The nurse exposed to Ebola who jumped on a plane to Ohio has no defense in claiming she called the CDC saying they told her it was ok to fly. The CDC is not a hospital nor health care taker facility, but rather an organization that provides guide lines, research, and advice. The nurse is the care give with the best medical training to be had. If she lives, she should be prosecuted and serve prison time, just like Aids patients who knowingly transmits Aids to others are prosecuted and inprisoned
Thank you for your comments Steve. I appreciate your taking the time to give your point of view. I am certain you have many valid points. My point was not so much a defense of Presbyterian as it was a criticism of some of the basic judgements at the CDC. In other words, while you sayd “the CDC issued their recommendations for hospitals weeks ago…”, I don’t think that among those recommendations was “as soon as you get an ebola patient call the CDC and we’re going to send in a specially trained team”, which is what I think this situation requires. That’s one example of what I consider flawed CDC protocol. But thanks again for the comment, I enjoyed reading it. Jane
Respectively Jane, once again, the CDC is not a health provider, but rather a research and advisement agency. Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas is the supposed world class health provider. And as the Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas dircector is testifying before Congress this very moment, he admits the hospital made mistakes and gave subsequent false information in explanation afterwords. The hospital knew very well what should of been done to protecct their staff.
Hi Jane,
I cannot understand why our governent waited and did not stop travel immediatly to and from west Africa when, this outbreak first occurred. It is like they are moving in slow motion. Whatever happened to common sense. Instead of pointing their finger at the hospital in Dallas, they should be looking in a mirror at themselves. Most of this should have been handled at the borders early on.
Great question Linda, thanks for the comment.
Thank you for your thoughts SL, I think Presbyterian made mistakes. But I also think the CDC completely dropped the ball in not preparing hospitals across the country and failing to provide a comprehensive plan of action; and I think lots of very good doctors, nurses and other health professionals will pay the price for the CDC’s lack of preparedness. Thanks again for commenting.
I used to think the CDC was a top knot organization…..but no more. This wasn’t their first rodeo! They’ve know about Ebola since 1976! When a nurse that was bedside treating a dying Ebola patient calls and gives them these facts along with the fact that she is only ONE degree below the red flag temperature asking if it’s o.k. to fly commercially……and they approve it? We are supposed to rest assured and sleep well at night knowing they are the national guardians watching over our health? I would think not! Lord help us!
Thanks for your thoughts Jon, hopefully the CDC will get it together.
I personally thing a lot of people made mistakes.. and it really started with Mr. Duncan – LYING.! IN MY OPINION
I agree Yvonne, and a lot of good doctors and nurses at Presbyterian will pay the price.
Thank you for this report Jane!
More than welcome, thanks for reading.
The CDC and our government has been either totally inept or just plain lazy and lying to us. Ebola has been know about since 1976. There has been more than enough time pass for the CDC to “get their act together”. By the time it came to America, and there was no question that it was gonna come, the CDC should have been prepared. We had doctors and nurses in West Africa who were on the front lines trying to halt it’s progress. We had 3 health care workers who contracted the disease and were flown back here to be treated. Just how much time did the government and the CDC need to come up with protocols to keep us safe? The bottom line, for me at least, is that they are extremely incompetent or lazy or just plain criminal in their lack of actions. This could have been avoided all together. But when the government gets involved there is no such thing as preventative measures, only catch-up!
Pretty much my thoughts Rod, thanks for taking the time to comment.
Jane, I believe the whole fiasco started when Mr. Duncan came to the United States (having lied on the form relating to the part about Ebola exposure). Next, when Mr. Duncan became ill with Ebola, he went to Presbyterian and there was confusion in the nurse’s notes about him being in Liberia. (I think that was the second mistake.) The Doctor in charge released him home not connecting the dots to possible Ebola. Mr. Duncan became worse and returned to Presbyterian – this time, by ambulance and with acute symptoms of Ebola. (This is where it gets interesting!) When the test came back positive for Ebola, no one knew what to do! The CDC hadn’t thought through the process to instruct the hospital to dress with extreme caution and send a Team to the hospital to assist. (Third and perhaps, the worst mistake.) Talk about a “breach in protocol”; there was no protocol. There should have been, however. The CDC knew that as Mr. Duncan deteriorated, the changes of exposure to health care workers became increasingly greater. This is how the two nurses became exposed and later contracted Ebola. The CDC needs to learn from these mistakes and get a Team (or Teams) in place to travel to hospitals to protect not only health care workers but the general population from exposure. Last comment: Mr. Duncan should have never left Liberia to come to the United States.
Looks like you’ve really followed this Jan. Thanks so much for your informed comments, Jane
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments Jan.
Hi Jane, I have not read any of the comments so I hope I am not restating the others! My husband is recently out of Presbyterian after a 2 week stay – just befor Mr. Duncan came to the US -lying to get into the US! He is still doing out patient rehab at Jackson! Have I lost confidence in Presbyterian ?!? That would be foolish! So, NO I have not! I lay the entire blame at the feet at CDC! There job is to protect and give gear to the healthcare givers none of which has happened!
Are you and your readers aware that in 2007 the CDC had 25 plus millions of dollars to make main hospitals knowledgeable about how to handle an outbreak like Ebola. Originally it was feared that our enemies would declare biological warfare and thus the push to be ready for it. Sound familiar except NOW the CDC is saying we are underfunded. What happened to the 25 mil, you ask. The CDC gave themselves bonuses and thus no money was/is available to do the original plan? How many hazmat suits, gloves, foot coverings would this money have bought?!? How many isolation rooms fully equipped would this have built! I am disgusted and angry that a few people prospered while hospitals, patients and caregivers were left at risk!
You are not repeating previous comments, you added great new information. Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us all, Jane
I agree that the hospital probably made mistakes, but any other hospital would have made mistakes as well. New York and New Jersey were no more prepared than Dallas. My thing is that someone was probably with him when he went to the ER the first time, so why didn’t they make it a point to tell the doctor he had just come from Liberia. I hope that his family saw the 60 minutes story last week where they interviewed the nurses that took care of him. You could tell that they really cared about the job that they were doing. What I’m tired of seeing is the family friend and the nephew who keep saying he didn’t get the care he deserved. To put him on a respirator and do dialysis is a pretty good clue that they were doing everything they could to keep him alive. I know from having a family member on a respirator for 2 weeks the nurses who take care of the critical care patients really do care.
That 60 Minutes story was amazing, hearing the nurses describe what was involved in taking care of him was unsettling ST. Thanks for the comment, Jane