Ebola in Texas.

[flogger]

Thank God this stuff can't mutate and we know everything there is to know about it, have staff and hospitals waiting and last of all, we all have good health insurance!

[roberth]

Foxtrot - you make some good points about hygiene and our own awareness and reactions.

My biggest issue is that the current administration made no attempt whatsoever to prevent ebola from coming here and now we have 2 nurses infected with it.

The other thing that really pisses me off is that the current administration is sending troops to Africa to build fence or whatever, a complete waste of good people.

The planner in me wonders how the current administration will twist this event into reducing our rights even further.

[davsel]

DoD injecting humans with Ebola in January 2014. Interesting.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02041715

[Great-Kazoo]

Foxtrot - you make some good points about hygiene and our own awareness and reactions.

My biggest issue is that the current administration made no attempt whatsoever to prevent ebola from coming here and now we have 2 nurses infected with it.

The other thing that really pisses me off is that the current administration is sending troops to Africa to build fence or whatever, a complete waste of good people.

The planner in me wonders how the current administration will twist this event into reducing our rights even further.

SAFE act in NY. Same for CA. Under the guise of Health & Safety issues LE's are allowed to confiscate firearms, W/OUT COURT ORDER OR TRIAL.

[roberth]

[sellersm]

Well, this explains why he's the Ebola czar! "Overpopulation is the biggest problem":

[sellersm]

Here's something from an un-named source:

Be prepared to see a major movement in the Healthcare setting towards
complete case diversion ( the practice of sending patients out and away
from the hospitals they present to). This is currently used when big
traumas, burns, stroke or cardiac patients need higher level care than a
hospital can provide. This practice may segway into further development
of Large ward Cohorting or EBola Centers( REgional FEMA Health? Camps)
Ironically they would be the unhealthiest if not deadliest place to be.
I was working in the ICU today and overheard the following information in
the company of several leaders in the hospital including, Critical care ICU
Managers, Infectious Disease Manager, Multiple Intensivists (ICU Md's) and
critical care coordinators. They have not been receiving complete or
definitive answers from the CDC for and specificity of Level of PPE and so
are clueless and semi-paralyzed as to what to do.

From the conversation:

On the record, The higher level system administrators for the Multi-
hospital system are working desperately to find any way to generate an
agreement and policy to Divert any and all discovered or potential Ebola
cases to higher level hospitals with greater resources "for the betterment
of the patient outcome". Off the record it was said they are just trying to
keep those cases out because they have absolutely no capability to handle
or contain Ebola and don't want to end up with the same reputation as
Presbyterian hospital when its discovered by the community they are utterly
unprepared.

Second, the hospital leadership is fully aware of the attrition of nurses and staff
as no shows if Ebola came to town. The nurses that are awake will leave to
ride it out, the ones who believe the media mantra will stay long enough to
get ill from the "recommended PPE" and become statistics. While still
others will leave but be forced toreturn to work because they have no
finances for longer leave of absence due to already hard times and family
needs or fears of getting fired or threatened their licenses will be
revoked.

In summation of the conversation further. Consolidation and mass cohorting
on a ward would be the only way to house any and all cases with over-worked
skeleton crews and no resources. The consensus was "the public was better
off staying home" and dying there "instead of spreading it" through the
hospital system, because "we couldn't do anything for them anyways".

[sellersm]

General preparedness and awareness is good. That said,

Do I think there will be a pandemic? No. Largely, I think this is overrated.

We're not africa and this isn't whooping cough. It's very, very scary, yes, because of its mortality and hemorrhagic side. But such so and well publicized that you don't need the CDC to do anything, people will do it themselves. Sick person in your city? Schools are going to close, grocery stores bare, people will self quarantine themselves away out of fear of just a handful of individuals. The economic loss would be crazy.

But is it going to spread to african levels? No.

Africa itself it isn't even truly a pandemic. Malaria still kills far, far, far more. If they didn't have such superstitious beliefs, hoo-doo and poor hygiene, it would probably already be over.

The only real problem I see is once it has a foothold here you will possibly see "flair ups" from time to time. Less than a dozen in each instance. Millions infected? No, ebola is too deadly to spread effectively enough stateside in its present form. I'd be surprised if we have more than 20 infections total due to all this.

The new Y2K. Looming disaster is always around the corner. Or it's not. Seems to me that its spread is slowing.

It is to a limited extent airborne (aerosol) but people are so scared of it here. Our biggest risk is a small foothold.... the damage would be worse than 9/11, and not from fatalities. If you don't live in a slum and eat with the same hand you use as TP, and your local doctor isn't a "witch" that tells you to drink saltwater to prevent ebolas, you'll probably be fine.

Again, not saying preparedness or awareness is bad. It's not. It's great. But the sky isn't falling.

Hope you're right, but I don't share the optimism...

[Dave_L]

Sellersm- That sounds about right with what I hear from people that work in primary care. Not much being done to protect the health care field. Lots of "meetings" behind closed doors with upper management. There is just something very weird about this whole Ebola thing.

I said it earlier in this thread. Those FEMA "camps" the tinfoilers were investigating might finally have a reason to exist.

[HoneyBadger]

Here's something from an un-named source:

Trying to look at this objectively: Why would somebody write this? What is their motivation? Are they trying to promote fear? If so, what do they have to gain from it? If they are just trying to do their "duty" to inform the public of what is going on, aren't they worried about losing their job or being reprimanded? Don't they understand that writing things like this could cause panic? I'm a little skeptical because it seems to be written from someone on the inside who (obviously) wants to remain anonymous, but their motivation is unclear. This almost seems political.

Edit: not sure why the text was all jacked up. Fixed it.