Great you are a critical physician. Shame ON YOU for lecturing others without know exactly how Brantley contracted the virus. Do you have an answer to that? Do you?
Who the hell do you think YOU are that everyone should accept such an unprecendented level of risk without raising any concerns.
You tell us exactly how you know 100% that the ebola will be contained and back it up. Then you tell us how exactly Brantley contracted it. THEN, maybe, you’ll be on to something. You chose what you do. You chose your level of exposure. How dare you tell anyone else they aren’t allowed to do the same.
Reading descriptions of the Ebola wards in Africa gives an inkling of why transmission occurred despite Tyvek suits (which are protective, but do not seem to be hazmat level). Literally the floors and everything else are awash in bodily fluids. Unless the suited clinicians undergo a decontamination shower before taking off the suits, it is probably that the exteriors of the suits are contaminated. The aerosols in the air outside the wards are likely high. In a humid environment, it is difficult to see how simple barrier protection is efficient.
No matter what people think, US hospital isolation wards do not reach these levels of contamination. There is access to hazmat suits with air filtration. There are pressurized atmospheric controls in the isolation areas. Nurses are absolutely militant about keeping people in/out, as required. Suit decontamination is available.
Will Brantley be on a medevac plane, with medical personnel? Likely. They aren’t going to sit him up in tourist class and then turn the plane around for another leg. The plane will be small and will be decontaminated, likely the clinicians will, also.
I know doctors who volunteer for foreign missions. They aren’t careless dummies. They aren’t all liberals, either.
I fail to see how anyone not directly involved in the medical care/transport of this MD is exposed. Even if you live in Atlanta, unless you are in the isolation unit at Emory or are working there or married to a worker, how are you in danger?
You can choose your level of exposure. Don’t fly. Avoid the specific hospitals or even the specific communities that have the isolation units. Avoid critical personnel. If you are a terrified clinician or other critical care worker, take a vacation week or two. I do not feel I am being unreasonably exposed to Ebola because an American MD is being evacuated home for care. If you do feel that you are, self-imposed quarantine might make you feel more comfortable.
It occurred to me that people from the hot zones were traveling before the news reports of outbreaks, which have been ongoing for months, now. If this was a severe risk, wouldn’t we have seen at least isolated cases by now? Yes, there could be a news blackout, but since fear sells, I doubt it.