Let's Face It: The honor system isn’t going to stop Ebola

Hotair ^ | 10/27/2014 | Jazz Shaw

[SeekAndFind]

There has been a flood of push back and grumbling about the already lessened Ebola quarantines in New York and New Jersey, as well as against any of us who dared to speak up in support of them. Of course, everyone feels bad for the nurse who was quarantined in New Jersey, though she immediately began declaring that her civil rights had been violated and lecturing the rest of us about how, as a medical professional, she knew better than the hoi polloi whether or not she was a danger to others. Unfortunately there are a couple of glaring problems with this argument… the same one currently being pitched yet again by the White House.

As to who knows what, I’m afraid that this is still more of an open question than most of these experts and federal officials care to admit. First of all, the various quotes about when patients definitively become infectious and what the transmission paths are sound very reassuring when they come from medical professionals. But to this day, even in full health, Dr. Kent Brantly will still be the first one to tell you that he has no idea exactly when he became infected or how it happened. This is still new science in some ways, and finding out that your first, second or fifth theory was wrong could come in the form of a very expensive lesson.

Combine that with the second topic, and a responsible government might want to start listening to more than 70% of the public, as well as 75% of doctors, and err on the side of caution. You see, one of the key elements of the current plans relies on people who are asymptomatic engaging in self-quarantine and promptly reporting themselves if anything seems amiss. Will everyone be honest about this? Well, it turns out that Thomas Eric Duncan wasn’t.

An emergency room nurse who treated Thomas Eric Duncan said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that the first person to die of Ebola in the U.S. was not honest about his exposure to the deadly virus.

Sidia Rose told “60 Minutes” that Duncan said during his second trip to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas that he had not been in contact with anyone who had been sick.

“I explained to him, ‘We are under the impression that you may have been exposed to Ebola.’ And I said, ‘Where are you from?’ And he told me Liberia,” she said.

“And I asked ‘Have you been in contact with anyone who’s been sick?’ ”

“No. He said no,” Rose said.

Bryan Preston makes the connection.

If a state fails to fully track an Ebola victim’s movements and outbreak occurs, they will be rightly accused of negligence.

The honor system has not and will not work to stop Ebola. It has already failed. Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was exposed to Ebola in his native country and then brought it to Dallas, lied on his Liberian exit form and then according to his Dallas nurses lied again about his Ebola exposure during his first visit to the hospital.

Medical doctors and so-called experts have denounced the state-level quarantines, but two doctors and a nurse have exposed others to Ebola after their own exposures. Both Dr. Nancy Snyderman of NBC and Dr. Gardner exposed others by violating quarantine and in Gardner’s case, using mass transit. Dallas nurse Amber Joy Vinson did as well, flying between Dallas and Cleveland, OH, on commercial aircraft despite showing symptoms.

I’m not saying that any of the professionals who volunteer in Africa are going to deliberately lie. But they are working with a lot of other people. And even among the medical staff and supporting workers, there may be a significant risk that the required data will not be volunteered on the first go round. People facing a potentially dire situation will frequently be in denial. We see that all the time with folks who avoid going to the doctor only to find out later that all of those warning signs were, indeed, cancer. But if you can’t bring yourself to admit it in your own mind, you likely won’t be checking off those boxes on a form either. Further, you might be thinking that it can’t possibly be Ebola, so why would I go through all the hassle of reporting this?

Where would they get that idea? Maybe from hearing an endless stream of government spokesmodels being paraded across your television screen telling you that it’s almost impossible to catch in the first place. And if you’ve had that drilled into your head often enough, who wants to go get locked up in their house for three weeks for what is almost certainly just a case of the flu?

I discussed this a while back in reference to the President, but it applies to the elected officials at all levels charged with keeping their constituents safe. Sure, you might overreact. Maybe this will all blow over. But if you had to get this one wrong, on which side would you rather err? The answer remains obvious unless you are determined to turn this into a political football.

[DarkSavant]

Yeah. Let's give the government the ability to lock people in their house at will. Nothing that can't be solved with a little more state intervention.

First our freedoms got eroded by the "war on drugs", then the "war on terror". Now it's the "war on ebola". When will conservatives start figuring out they've been had?

[Tax-chick]

I’m not saying that any of the professionals who volunteer in Africa are going to deliberately lie.

The doctor in New York obviously didn't give a freep about possible exposure. Being a medical worker doesn't necessarily mean you care about others.

[SeekAndFind]

There has to be a balance between public safety and government control somewhere.

[Wolfie]

All I hear is that the government must do something. Followed by bitching when it does.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: All I hear is that the government must do something. Followed by bitching when it does.

Yep, and also bitchin’ when they do too little ...

[onedoug]

øbola

[null and void]

Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your......

(hat tip to: fivecatsandadog!)

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

[Iron Munro]

T honor system might not stop Ebola.

But will it stop criticism of Resident Obama?

After all, that is the Prime Directive.

[paterfamilias]

The problem is one of political will and political posturing.

It has been established that:

1. Some people lie out of self-preservation (Dallas index case)
2. Many people are stupid.
3. People who should know better often do stupid things (the NY doctor, the 2nd Dallas nurse)
4. People feel entitled because they did something altruistic (the NJ nurse).
5. Your rights end at my immune system.

The Public Health people need to develop an ENFORCEABLE and acceptable self-quarantine method for returning medical personnel (GPS bracelets?) or a traditional quarantine, so that risk to the general public is minimized.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing. - Adam Smith

If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.

If you want to play POTUS, you have to remember that to be believed like an heir of George Washington, you have to have commensurate integrity. Otherwise, even if you are telling the truth, skepticism is only to be expected.

[Morpheus2009]

IMHO, Duncan lied out of denial that he was actually infected with the disease that he thought he escaped from, or that he was dying. If someone is dying, they sometimes reach a point of denial that they actually are dying. Another reason why one would lie.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping...

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread