Posted on 10/03/2014 8:13:16 PM PDT by Enlightened1
A CDC official said the agency realized that many hospitals remain confused and unsure about how they are supposed to react when a suspected patient shows up. The agency sent additional guidance to health-care facilities around the country this week, just as it has numerous times in recent months, on everything from training personnel to spot the symptoms of Ebola to using protective gear.
Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which has treated several Ebola patients who were flown from West Africa, also has provided information and advice to dozens of hospitals, many of which are struggling with a lack of awareness about safety protocols and fear among some workers who feel ill-prepared. Washington-area health officials also said they are trying to identify gaps in their preparedness plans.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Biosafety level 4
This level is required for work with dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections, agents which cause severe to fatal disease in humans for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and various other hemorrhagic diseases. This level is also used for work with agents such as smallpox that are considered dangerous enough to require the additional safety measures, regardless of vaccination availability.
When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a positive pressure personnel suit, with a segregated air supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a level four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors from opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a biosafety level 4 (or P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level
These are the ‘shovel ready jobs’ Obama was referring to.
Bio 4 is for the laboratory, not the treatment facilities.
BSL designations only apply to research laboratories. There is no equivalent grading system for health care facilities.
When it's suppose to be a Level 4.
We live in crazy land.
"IF" this gets out of control, it won't take much to overwhelm the system. Add to that the large number of health care workers that will inevitably die trying to help and comfort the victims and you have the making of a disaster of biblical proportions.
*click* spin *click* spin *click* spin…BANG!
Eeeee-bolllll-aaaaaa ping!
Bring Out Your Dead
We’re gonna need 
a bigger cart!
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...
Dear Texas,
Handle this.
Respectfully,
Your friends in California
They may tell you that there is no such ranking system for treatment centers/hospitals. However, I'd just say that anyone who watched the Dr. Brantly interview knows that there are treatment facilities that have way more safe guards than the regular hospitals have.
The rooms have double entry, and tape out side the door directly into the patients room. That tape marks the region outside the door as part of the Hot Zone. The suits they wore appeared to be much more sturdy and fully protective than the standard hospital isolation gear. Just a few examples.
So whatever the actual technical term is there are treatment facilities that have better capabilities to treat these illnesses. Why isn't this guy in one of those facilities right now? How come some people need a high level of bio safety and others don't?
In earlier threads the articles seemed to indicate that this is just a regular hospital, and not one of the super duper safe treatment facilities. Talk about contradictions...
Not to mention the professionals who were infected while treating the disease - if those who really understand how to protect themselves end up catching it, the average Joe really needs to be situationally aware - we have stopped shaking hands and physically touching others or hanging in large gatherings.
Because we will quickly run out of level 4 facilities and have no choice in the matter. The "plan" right now is to have 13,500 people or more come into the country from the Ebola countries and without a doubt they will infect Americans. They will be brought to regular hospitals which will hastily retrofitted with some pretty good but not perfect isolation.
Before you say aw geez that's a terrible idea, let me say I agree completely. However in West Africa their "isolation" at the moment is to use a separate mud hut with a plastic fence around it and it actually works to some extent although leaves a lot to be desired. They basically isolate the ebola patients and everything they touch from the rest of the world. They do not treat the air in any way and luckily ebola does not aerosolize. It can theoretically spread on droplets in the air but it is an open question how far those go (the two competing theories are 3 feet and 30 feet).
Out in the community, they hire a lot of guys with bleach sprayers and spray everything that an ebola suspect may have touched. Those guys suit up but probably reuse the suits and are probably considered expendable. Others in suits bring victims to the Ebola centers. That method works pretty well considering how bad this disease is, and the reason it is not working is they have run out of centers and people are being turned away at hospitals, going back home and infecting the family and a few neighbors, etc.
Like it or not, pres. Obola has plans to turn this country into a third world country. The people who are fighting that include our health care workers who will do a much better job at containing this virus than any African hospital. But from what we see on threads here, the CDC is actually working against them at least at the highest levels.
Personally I have little doubt that our diligent health care professionals can handle this, but what they can't handle is 100's more that Obola wants to let in. Nor can they handle the terrorists who will come over uninfected but bring the material with them. That is my biggest worry.
While it’s true that we have a limited amount of facilities, they are not even near capacity, unless there is a whole lot of unreported cases in the ones scattered around the country.
So, I would just like to ask again what is the criteria for deciding who goes to the super duper isolation treatment centers and who goes to a regular hospital? They surely have a BS cover story.
Why wasn’t Duncan loaded up like Dr. Brantly and transferred to a facility that has more safety protocols, if for no other reason than to keep from exposing other people in the Texas hospital.
Expect an accusation of racism in 3..2..1...
Sounds as good as any explanation. There are two factors in Ebola care, first is whether you, the patient, get the best treatment. Second is whether the staff and others are protected. I think we can safely say that us plebes, black or white, will be sent to the isolation camps where we won't have the best treatment. In that sense Duncan is lucky. The rest of us will not be so lucky.
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