The Ebola outbreak in Africa began in December, 2013. In recent months it has received saturation news coverage in the United States. America's first Ebola case was confirmed just this week, in Texas. "The State of Texas will be ready," Governor Rick Perry said of the approach of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And it was. Was Texas ready for Ebola?
Thomas E. Duncan was taken to a Dallas hospital on September 25. Both he and a person who accompanied him to the hospital told emergency room nurses that he was from Liberia, ground zero, and had Ebola symptoms. The nurses noted it. Nurses notes, observations, statements made to nurses by patients and those accompanying them, do not get automatically referred to the diagnosing physicians at this hospital, Texas Health Presbyterian.
?
The doctors didn't diagnose Duncan with Ebola. So they discharged him and he went back home in Dallas where he lived with four other people.
Three days later Duncan was back at the hospital in critical condition. The people Duncan lived with had not been quarantined. Texas is still trying to track down everybody Duncan had contact with.
After Duncan's housemates were taken out of the apartment and quarantined cleaning of the apartment didn't begin until today.
Because "Cleaning Guys," who Texas contracted with, didn't have permits to transport hazardous material on Texas highways.
"We were contracted to clean and contain the affected material and anything that has come in contact with that patient. There was no protocol put in place for handling Ebola on Texas highways.”
-Cleaning Guys.
I have never liked protocols. A "protocol" is, like, "what to do," right? Like you look up Ebola in the Protocol Manual and it says "get a permit" to transport it, right? It wasn't in the manual so somebody didn't know what to do, "Cleaning Guys" or "The State of Texas." Why would worthy "Cleaning Guys" need a "protocol" to know what to do with Ebola-contaminated stuff? What do they do with AIDS stuff, medical waste generally, all the contaminated stuff they clean, take it home? "Cleaning Guys" needed a permit, not a protocol. Why didn't they have a permit like they have to have to transport any contaminated material? Is there an Ebola-specific permit that The State of Texas issues? That it didn't issue here? That it didn't have "ready?" Somebody in Texas wasn't ready.
"In a statement released late Thursday, the hospital said it was going to integrate its electronic record keeping system to prevent such failures of communication."
-The New York Times.
I have always been in favor of integration.
“Protocols were followed by both the physician and the nurses.”
-Hospital Guys.
See? Even when you follow them the bird hits the air pump. I really don't like protocols.
“However, we have identified a flaw in the way the physician and nursing portions of our electronic health records interacted in this specific case. In our electronic health records, there are separate physician and nursing work flows.”
Yeah, something wasn't flowing. I guess the "work flows" needed to be "integrated," yes? The "protocols" "flaw" was that the "work flows" "interacted" in a way that there was no interaction, they were segregated, see?
I have always been against segregation. Texas was not ready for Ebola, Texas did not work in this instance. America does not work.
Thomas E. Duncan was taken to a Dallas hospital on September 25. Both he and a person who accompanied him to the hospital told emergency room nurses that he was from Liberia, ground zero, and had Ebola symptoms. The nurses noted it. Nurses notes, observations, statements made to nurses by patients and those accompanying them, do not get automatically referred to the diagnosing physicians at this hospital, Texas Health Presbyterian.
?
The doctors didn't diagnose Duncan with Ebola. So they discharged him and he went back home in Dallas where he lived with four other people.
Three days later Duncan was back at the hospital in critical condition. The people Duncan lived with had not been quarantined. Texas is still trying to track down everybody Duncan had contact with.
After Duncan's housemates were taken out of the apartment and quarantined cleaning of the apartment didn't begin until today.
Because "Cleaning Guys," who Texas contracted with, didn't have permits to transport hazardous material on Texas highways.
"We were contracted to clean and contain the affected material and anything that has come in contact with that patient. There was no protocol put in place for handling Ebola on Texas highways.”
-Cleaning Guys.
I have never liked protocols. A "protocol" is, like, "what to do," right? Like you look up Ebola in the Protocol Manual and it says "get a permit" to transport it, right? It wasn't in the manual so somebody didn't know what to do, "Cleaning Guys" or "The State of Texas." Why would worthy "Cleaning Guys" need a "protocol" to know what to do with Ebola-contaminated stuff? What do they do with AIDS stuff, medical waste generally, all the contaminated stuff they clean, take it home? "Cleaning Guys" needed a permit, not a protocol. Why didn't they have a permit like they have to have to transport any contaminated material? Is there an Ebola-specific permit that The State of Texas issues? That it didn't issue here? That it didn't have "ready?" Somebody in Texas wasn't ready.
"In a statement released late Thursday, the hospital said it was going to integrate its electronic record keeping system to prevent such failures of communication."
-The New York Times.
I have always been in favor of integration.
“Protocols were followed by both the physician and the nurses.”
-Hospital Guys.
See? Even when you follow them the bird hits the air pump. I really don't like protocols.
“However, we have identified a flaw in the way the physician and nursing portions of our electronic health records interacted in this specific case. In our electronic health records, there are separate physician and nursing work flows.”
Yeah, something wasn't flowing. I guess the "work flows" needed to be "integrated," yes? The "protocols" "flaw" was that the "work flows" "interacted" in a way that there was no interaction, they were segregated, see?
I have always been against segregation. Texas was not ready for Ebola, Texas did not work in this instance. America does not work.
