Let's hope the problem doesn't get out of hand before they get a grip and do the things necessary to bring calm and a measured approach to the situation. Government has done more than enough to cause Americans to have trouble keeping the faith. Enough already!
Lax U.S. Guidelines on Ebola Training Led to Poor Hospital Training, Experts Say reveals the bad news about government's 'guidance' and the serious lack of hospital training for the Ebola virus:
Many American hospitals have improperly trained their staffs to deal with Ebola patients because they were following federal guidelines that were too lax, infection control experts said on Wednesday.
Federal health officials effectively acknowledged the problems with their procedures for protecting
health care workers by abruptly changing them. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued stricter guidelines for American hospitals with Ebola patients.
They are now closer to the procedures of Doctors Without Borders, which has decades of experience in fighting Ebola in Africa. In issuing the new guidelines, the C.D.C. acknowledged that its experts had learned by working alongside that medical charity.
The agency’s new voluntary guidelines include full-body suits covering the head and neck, supervision of the risky process of taking off protective gear, and the use of hand disinfectant as each item is removed.
“They kind of blew me off,” he said. “I’m happy to see they’re changing them, but it’s late.”
Melissa Brower, a C.D.C. spokeswoman, said the agency was “taking a hard look at our recommendations and may be making changes.”
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the C.D.C., expressed regret about his agency’s initial response to the first Ebola case in Dallas. . . .
Some major hospitals, aware of the inadequacy of the older C.D.C. guidelines, have followed more stringent standards in training their staff. But many — including Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where two nurses were infected by a dying patient — have not.
The Doctors Without Borders guidelines are even stricter than the new C.D.C. directives in that they require full coverage of the torso, head and legs with fabrics that blood or vomit cannot soak through, along with rubber aprons, goggles or face shields, sealed wrists and rubber boots. Doctors and nurses wear two sets of gloves, including long outer ones that strap or are taped to the gown; janitors wear three sets.
As they undress in choreographed steps, Doctors Without Borders workers wash their hands with chlorine solution eight times and are sprayed with a chlorine mist. Most important, all personnel disrobe only under the eyes of a supervisor whose job is to prevent even a single misstep."
Summing Up
While not as stringent as the Doctors Without Borders guidelines, the new government rules are better than previously.
And with respect to their timing, about all that can be said is that it's better to be late than never.
And with respect to their timing, about all that can be said is that it's better to be late than never.
That said, this is yet another case of a minimally competent government knows best bureaucracy which is not well led or managed.
And perhaps even worse, its leadership exhibits a rather elitist and nonchalant approach to its duties with respect to protecting the people the CDC is supposed to be serving -- We the People.
That's my take.
Thanks. Bob.
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