Dallas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Briana Aguirre is sure rocking the CDC's attempts at keeping the general public calm over the ongoing Ebola virus situation. Aguirre sat for an interview with Today Show's Matt Lauer and divulged details on just how unprepared one of the U.S.'s most respected facilities is to treat what could easily turn into a pandemic if not quickly contained. Aguirre has spent time caring for the first infected nurse, Nina Pham and offered up details on how Dallas had never had any formal training before Thomas Eric Duncan walked through their front doors.
According to Aguirre, Duncan was originally placed in an area with several other patients and when staff contacted their infectious disease department to find out the protocol for treating an Ebola patient they were told that the department wasn't sure and would have to get back to them. Aguirre says that there was never any formal training, only a seminar offered on a voluntary basis, and it didn't include any hands-on training.
In the hospital's second week of treating Ebola patients Aguirre was stunned by the insufficient gear offered to her when she was required to care for Phan. She claims that nurses were wearing two pairs of gloves, 3 pairs of booties but there was a several inch gap between the top of the suit and the facial mask. This means that workers had exposed skin near their chin and neck area. When Lauer asked Aguirre her reaction to the protective gear, she didn't hold back.
"I'll be honest, I threw a fit. I just couldn't believe it. In the second week of an Ebola crisis at my hospital, the only gear they were offering us at that time, and up until that time, is gear that is allowing our necks to be uncovered? Why would I be wearing three pairs of gloves, three pairs of booties, a plastic suit covering my entire body and then leave my neck hanging out this much so that something can potentially go close to my mouth or nose?
The CDC has contradicted itself repeatedly in response to this health crisis, and while Aguirre claims to love her job, she also feels that if the public isn't being honestly educated, then there is no way to get the Ebola crisis under control. Ironically, West Africa's Doctors Without Borders seem to have a much more effective way of treating thousands of patients, while the U.S. is struggling with just a few.
Are you glad that Aguirre spoke up and laid out the facts of what some healthcare workers' are facing or is she just creating unnecessary fear in an already dicey environment? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
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