Amber Vinson, Second Dallas Nurse Stricken with Ebola Virus, Speaks Out Against CDC's Criticism: 'I'm Not Careless, I'm Not Reckless'

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said Vinson should never have flown and that it would have been against its guidelines. But it neglected to mention how nervous the whole situation had actually made her because the nurses who cared for Duncan were never trained until the moment they had to suit up to actively care for him.

Vinson told Matt Lauer in an interview this morning on Today:

"The first time that I put on the protective equipment, I was heading in to take care of the patient. We didn't have excessive training where we could don and doff, put on and take off the protective equipment, till we got a level of being comfortable with it. I didn't have that, and I think that's very important for hospitals across the nation, big and small. Once Nina came down with it, my contact at the health department called me and gave me a list of things to look out for, symptoms to look out for and numbers to call if I showed any symptoms. I never had a number to call the CDC directly. I would always call my contact at the health department. And then when I was in Ohio, and I was scheduled to leave, because I was so afraid of what could potentially happen, I did ask them, 'Is there anything that you guys can do to send for me? Do I need to leave earlier?' Because you know, I was worried."

Lauer quickly reminded her of how the CDC allowed her to be painted as careless and foolish ,and it was obviously still a sore spot for Vinson, as she explained:

"It made me feel terrible, because that's not me. I'm not careless. I'm not reckless. I'm an ICU nurse. I embrace protocol, guidelines and structure. Because in my day-to-day nursing, it is a matter of life and death. And I respect that fact. I would never go outside of guidelines or boundaries or something directly from the CDC telling me that I can't go, I can't fly."

After learning all that we have in the weeks since the news of Vinson's diagnosis first broke, it is painfully clear that the CDC didn't have the proper guidelines in effect and that their bad judgment was what prompted Vinson to get on those flights.

Thankfully no one else contracted Ebola from her, but even if they had, the blame would likely lie in the hands of the CDC rather than Vinson, don't you think?

Tags

Amber Vinson, Ebola Virus, Nina Pham, Ohio, CDC, Backlash, Today, Matt Lauer, Thomas Eric Duncan