Let's examine this people. One man has died from Ebola in the US. We are not in a third-world country where risk of total outbreak is inherent. I agree there should have been no risk of contamination to any of the health professionals who treated Mr. Duncan, but these are the people who had the closest risk and they are the ones infected. Think about it. None of his family members are infected, none of the other people who were at the hospital the days he was there are infected. No, its the nurses who were close to Mr. Duncan who were infected. Let's stop panicking, blaming and freaking out in general.
Let's stop blaming the hospital who took in the man and treated him. They had never seen Ebola how would they know what to look for or how to treat him? How would they know the proper protocol when they had never dealt with this before. Yes, there were oversights and risks, but these people put their lives in jeopardy to treat another human being.
Ebola in the US is contained and under control. Should the second nurse been able to fly? Probably not, but the thing is, we have the ability in the US to locate and isolate those who had possible contact with the patient.
Let's stop panicking and think like rational people. And let's stop sensationalizing this. Let's stop the widespread panic.
WHAT? You live in DFW near the Ebola outbreak?!!?!!? OH EM GEE YOU NEED TO MOVE ASAP!!! RIGHT NOW!!!! LEAVEEEEEEEEEEEEE and come see me in DC ;)! it's safe here!
ReplyDeletehaha, kidding! But it's crazy that people are FAHREAKING OUT! I will admit, I don't think the nurse, who knew the symptoms of the virus and wasn't feeling well, should have flown. Now she's just added to the hysteria, when she could have just postponed her trip.
Good rant, Boff! :)
I've decided to stop reading about it...the (contradicting) news articles were giving me anxiety. And it was like a never-ending trail...once I started reading, I just couldn't stop!
ReplyDeleteI think semi-panic is good, because it keeps people alert about what COULD happen if we don't pay attention to it. Now, mass hysteria? Not productive. Everyone just needs to focus on what we need to do to stop it from happening. The nurse definitely shouldn't have flown, but it's done now, so we need to focus on stopping the spread.
ReplyDeletePanic is no good, educating ourselves on how to protect ourselves is way better. I'm apprehensive, but not panicked. Glad you are spreading the word! If you are calm in Dallas, then everyone else should be too!
ReplyDeleteI live about an hour away from Emory (where they are now taking any Ebola patients) and I'm not going to lie, it scares the shit out of me. Granted...the news outlets are not making any better for anyone and I feel like the CDC can't get their story straight. What it boils down to is that the hospital had NO CLUE as to how to treat an Ebola patient and as a result this has happened. Hopefully there will not be any more confirmed cases. But as for you and your little nugget, be careful!!!! Wear a mask if you must haha! I'm sure there are some fashionable pink ones out there somewhere!
ReplyDeleteB works right down the street from Emory - where the nurses with Ebola have been brought - and just a couple of miles from the CDC. Where hundreds of thousands of samples of all kinds of known/unknown diseases are kept and studied all the time. At first, I found myself stressing out about his proximity to all of this. I have to really remind myself that worrying about things like that does no good. I totally agree that mass panic is unproductive and harmful - hysteria is never a good thing. But do think that people being informed and staying educated on topics like this is a good thing. Hopefully anyone that could have come into contact with the nurse that flew was aware of what has been going on, and has taken precautions!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this because Houston is 4 hours away and people are down here losing it too. Lord! I know people who literally shunned people who went up to Dallas for the Texans game. The media needs to chill with the scaring people!
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