EbolaFirst New York Ebola case confirmed
Dr. Craig Spencer, who had been working with Doctors without Borders in Guinea and treating Ebola patients before returning to New York City on 14 October, was taken to Bellevue Hospital yesterday (Thursday) and placed in strict isolation. Tests later determined that he had contracted the Ebola virus. Spencer is the first New Yorker diagnosed with Ebola. As if in anticipation of a case like Dr. Spencer’s, more than 5,000 healthcare workers in New York participated in a three-hour session earlier this week to prepare for Ebola should an infected person arrive in the New York City region.
Dr. Craig Spencer, who had been working with Doctors without Borders in Guinea and treating Ebola patients before returning to New York City on 14 October, was taken to Bellevue Hospital yesterday (Thursday) and placed in strict isolation. Tests later determined that he had contracted the Ebola virus. Spencer is the first New Yorker diagnosed with Ebola.
The New York Times reports that even as Spencer’s doctors were waiting for the test results, city’s health authorities were sufficiently concerned about the possibility that he is infected with the virus that they have started to identify and trace anyone who might have come into contact with him.
As if in anticipation of a case like Dr. Spencer’s, more than 5,000 healthcare workers in New York participated in a three-hour session earlier this week to prepare for Ebola should an infected person arrive in the New York City region. The event, sponsored in part by the Greater New York Hospital Association and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, featured best practices in dealing with Ebola, and how properly to disinfect Ebola-infected hospital rooms and workers’ garments. Prior to the event, many area nurses were skeptical of their hospitals’ level of preparedness to deal with the virus.
Insurance Journal reports that Millicent Gist, a receptionist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, was surprised to hear that her facility was now an officially designated hospital for patients suspected of having Ebola. While the hospital has held regular training sessions since the summer, not all workers are convinced that preparation will be enough to stop healthcare workers from being infected. It was just two weeks ago when two nurses caring for the country’s first Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, became infected with the virus. Both nurses are now being cared for in hospitals in Atlanta and Bethesda, Maryland.
Michelle Rosas, a patient service representative at a medical clinic in Queens, said she meets with West African patients regularly, but before this week’s training, she did not know how to react if a patient arrived at the clinic with a travel history and symptoms of Ebola. “We have a lot of foreigners, we have a lot of Africans,” she said. Healthcare workers at the clinic, however, have only been provided masks, Rosas said. “We got fitted for that.”
“We recognize that health-care workers in New York City are concerned about their risk, which is why we’ve taken such extensive steps to provide them with the information and resources they need,” said Jean Weinberg, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who attended the training session, noted that Ebola affects all hospital staff. “This is doctors, this is nurses, this is hospital administrators, this is lab techs, this is radiology technicians, this is food service, this is laundry, this is security, this is transportation. Don’t say this isn’t me,” he said.
New York City hospitals have yet to care for an Ebola-infected patient, but many healthcare workers believe the chance of an Ebola case appearing in the city is likely, therefore preparation is key. “It is scary,” added Lesline McGrowder a nurse’s aide. “It’s just like when AIDS came out, but we’re going to get over it once we get educated.”
Two weeks ago, Cuomo ordered all hospitals to go through an Ebola preparedness drill, and Mary Bassett, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told healthcare workers at the training session that her office “has issued commissioner’s orders requiring compliance.”
Healthcare workers in California are calling for similar training sessions to deal with Ebola. “We cannot name a hospital that we feel comfortable with, for patients in the state of California to attempt to have the appropriate response in an Ebola situation,” RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United told reporters following a meeting with California governor Jerry Brown. In Texas, Governor Rick Perry has announced the creation of an Ebola treatment and infectious disease bio-containment facility in North Texas. “In the event of another diagnosis this facility will allow us to act quickly to limit the virus’ reach,” he said in a statement.
