Ebola in Texas.

[Lurch]

I work at a large health facility and I'm not really convinced they have any plan in place if this happens here.

[Gman]

I work at a large health facility and I'm not really convinced they have any plan in place if this happens here.

The government plan is lots and lots of denial.

[Bailey Guns]

I work at a large health facility and I'm not really convinced they have any plan in place if this happens here.

Yeah...that's what Mrs BG says of her hospital. They have a couple of notices on the bulletin board. I'm not normally paranoid but this shit could get ugly.

[HoneyBadger]

but this shit could get ugly.

I think when people realize that they could get sick and die without knowing what hit them, they will panic hardcore. I think people WITH ebola might even be a bigger threat because they may think that they have nothing to lose.

[rbeau30]

I think when people realize that they could get sick and die without knowing what hit them, they will panic hardcore. I think people WITH ebola might even be a bigger threat because they may think that they have nothing to lose.

And if they are anything like the guy-that-just-died's relatives and complain, about or disregard quarantine. We are fucked.

[hollohas]

If even a relatively small number of people get sick (I'm talking like a few hundred to a thousand), I would think that would start to quickly overwhelm the system. How many infected people can the healthcare system in a metro area isolate while still maintaining the highest level of protective procedures? How about a rural area? I would think that any metro area that saw even a relatively small outbreak would start to have hospital staffing problems as well.

The other thing I could see happening would be infected people not voluntarily going to the hospital for fear that their families would be kicked out of their homes, losing their jobs and experiencing any other number of problems that could come with getting "ebola" stamped on your head. I truly could see some people trying to keep a potential infection quiet.

[hollohas]

And if they are anything like the guy-that-just-died's relatives and complain, about or disregard quarantine. We are fucked.

Those people complained because they were told not to leave the house but no one could tell them how they were supposed to get groceries. (Because, aparently like most people, they didn't have more than a few days worth). It was later in the week after the court ordered quarantine that the donated food showed up. Providing supplies to quarantined families is just another thing the emergency response plan seems to have overlooked...

What happens when a few hundred families with no more than 2 days food are told they can't leave the house for 21 days? Think the Red Cross will get to all of them before a few decide they can't wait for food and diapers anymore and break quarantine?

[rbeau30]

Unfortunately i have no sympathy for these entitled folks who don't plan.

"Walmart to go" delivers groceries.
Amazon delivers groceries.
Many grocery chains deliver groceries.

I think the world should be culled of these helpless burdens on society.

[theGinsue]

I work at a large health facility and I'm not really convinced they have any plan in place if this happens here.

I think when people realize that they could get sick and die without knowing what hit them, they will panic hardcore. I think people WITH ebola might even be a bigger threat because they may think that they have nothing to lose.

Or maybe, they'll continue on with business as usual while they can because everyone keeps telling them how hard ebola is to catch so they must be dealing with a common cold.

And if they are anything like the guy-that-just-died's relatives and complain, about or disregard quarantine. We are fucked.

In my opinion, we were f'kd before ebola showed up within our borders.

Not convinced the .gov has a plan? Your intuition serves you well. As Gman said, the plan is lots & lots of denial.

Call me whatever you like; tin-foil hat wearer, conspiracy theorist, Eeyore, whatever.

Here's how I see this situation:
The .gov and major medical institutions/experts are doing everyone a disservice by playing down the possibility of the spread of this disease and by citing the difficulty of becoming infected. The concern is for a panic, and while that possibility exists, the opposite is also true to getting people more concerned about this dangerous disease. If people stop acting like there's absolutely no possible way they can become infected, we would have far better chances at controlling the possible spread of this disease.

You've got a guy who sat in a taxi cab next to a highly infectious ebola patient who then gets on a plane and travels to another part of the world. Our usually so over-protective .gov (if it saves just one child) refuses to put emergency travel restrictions, or at least mandatory quarantine, into place for those coming here from that region. We wouldn't want to deal with the economic impact of those actions. (Just what is the economic impact to tens of thousands of highly infectious DEAD?)

So now this guy is here and he surely knows his risk for ebola is through the roof. He goes to the hospital and fails to come right out and tell them he swam in the vomit & mucous of someone who just died from ebola. He put anyone he came into contact with at risk.

He goes home and is having a practical family reunion while knowing his risk factor. He fails to make the point known when he called for an ambulance that he is likely suffering from ebola - putting those first responders at risk.

Now, you've got LEO's and others going into the residence of a known ebola patient without proper PPE. He wasn't suffering from a peanut allergy. Wear PPE!

“We were told by federal officials, county officials that you would have to come in direct contact with Duncan or direct contact with bodily fluids, and he did not,” said Monnig’s son, Logan, about the possibility of his dad contracting Ebola. Logan said it’s a very scary time for his family, but they do not expect that his dad will test positive for the virus.

Well, of course they were told by .gov officials that there was no risk, it's straight out of the .gov playbook. If they really don't expect that he'll test positive then why is it such a "scary time"? Are they starting to get a clue?

Monning was not one of the 48 people being monitored by federal, state and local health officials because he never had direct contact with the patient. Monnig did enter the apartment where Duncan had stayed before being admitted to the hospital.

Wait! What?
He entered the known ebola patients apartment without PPE and he wasn't being monitored? To be totally risk free, in his time inside the apartment he must not have touched ANYTHING (to include walls, etc.). What are the chances of that?

“He was in the apartment for 30 minutes, which we were told is no chance to contact the virus,” said Logan.

Everyone knows he'd have to be in that environment for a minimum of 35 minutes before there was a "chance to contact the virus". Right? Even 3 seconds could have presented the "chance to contact the virus"

If he was exposed to an environment which had recently been occupied by an ebola patient there is definitely a chance, even if it is minuscule, it does exist.

The clinic and the City of Frisco initially reported that Monnig was “exhibiting signs and symptoms of Ebola.”

Well, golly, it looks like people might now be thinking that they were wrong about the whole "...there is no chance" bullshit.

First responders transported Monnig to the hospital from the Care Now, located at 301 W. Main Street in Frisco. When Monnig arrived at the clinic, he told workers he felt nauseous and recently had contact with Duncan’s family.

HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD! He let first responders handle him and waited until he got to the clinic to say something about his contact with the now dead ebola patient? What, in the name of all that is right & decent, could have possibly stopped him from mentioning it when calling for the first responders so they could take adequate precautions and so that the clinic could do the same, thus minimizing the risk of exposure to others? I mean really. Was there something more pressing on his mind? Perhaps his fantasy football league is suffering some setbacks. Yeah, that'd keep me from forewarning others that a risk exists....

Oh wait. That's right, he only gave it a secondary thought after getting to the clinic because, after all, THERE IS NO RISK. F'king silly me.

When you're dealing with such a highly contagious, high morbidity/mortality rate issue, you HAVE GOT to error on the side of extreme caution to eliminate the spread. Even many of us dumb hick Coloradians/Rocky Mtn. Hillbillies are preparing for a risk that is so far removed from us as to not be a legitimate concern - today. You'd think those in the Ebola Ground Zero for the U.S. would wise up too.

ETA: Maybe this guy just has a flu bug after all, but the fact that folks are concerned (his family is now "really scared") shows that some finally realize that the risk does exist!

All of the above thoughts don't even address the possibility of the virus mutating which does happen. What happens if it changes to where it can be transmitter through the air? It can happen!

Jeff Goldblum says it perfectly in this memorable movie clip:

[rbeau30]

Well said Ginsue.

I am seeing this type of "ohh ebola isn't going to be a problem" mentality all around me! People I am around all day truly do not believe that this is a problem. Everyone is in direct contact with bodily fluids old or new almost at every time of the day. Skin cells are floating around all the time. We sweat 24/7 that has to go somewhere and onto something.

My wife was wiping down her cubicle the other day, and folks seriously told her (after scoffing at her) that they don't have germs.