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CDC Chief Frieden Points Fingers at Dallas Nurse
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
October 14, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Pointing
fingers at a Dallas nurse for breaching protocol caring for an Ebola patient at
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, 54-year-old Director of the Center for
Disease Control Thomas R. Frieden raised doubts about his leadership. With
over 4,000 deaths worldwide from the latest outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease
[EVD], AKA Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, spreading in West Africa from Guinea in late
Dec. 2013 to Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to a lesser degree in Nigeria and
Senegal, cases are beginning to trickle into the U.S. and Europe. No
matter what the precautions, first responders like doctors, nurses and health
care workers are at high risk of exposure caring for sick patients.
Watching the first confirmed U.S. death of Ebola Sunday, Oct. 12„ Thomas Eric
Duncan, Frieden warned at a press conference that U.S. hospitals aren’t
adequately trained to deal with the disease.
Frieden called for an investigation of Dallas Presbyterian Medical Center for
how a treating nurse became infected with Ebola. “You don’t scapegoat and
blame when you have a disease outbreak,” said Bonnie Castillo, a registered
nurse and disaster relief expert at National Nurses United, rejecting Frieden’s
indictment of the lack of preparedness around the country. “We have a
system failure, That is what we have to correct,” rejecting the idea
that Dallas Presbyterian nurse messed up. CDC spokesman Tom Skinner
emphasized that there’s no margin of error for health care workers dealing with
Ebola. “Meticulous adherence to protocols,” is critical, said Skinner.
“One slight slip can result in someone being infected,” suggesting that the
unnamed Dallas nurse slipped up. When you look at the infection rate of
U.N. trained health care workers in Liberia, it’s not just a slip up.
Even the best trained fire fighters get burned and killed while performing
duties in the course of their jobs. Suggesting that highly trained health
care workers “slipped up” doesn’t properly identify the risks to courageous
first responders putting their lives in harm’s way treating sick patients.
While it’s unrealistic to have every hospital in the country equally prepared to
deal with the Ebola outbreak, designating certain facilities as Ebola-ready
would be a logical next step. “We’ve been doing a lot over the last few
months, but clearly there is more to do,” said Skinner. “The notion of
possibly transporting patients diagnosed with Ebola to these hospitals is not
something that is out of the question and is something we may look into,”
Skinner said, about designating certain facilities Ebola-trained-and-ready.
CDC officials know that part of managing infectious diseases is managing panic.
Listening to Frieden or his spokesman Skinner blame individual hospitals for not
following appropriate infectious disease protocols rubs folks the wrong way.
Short of robotic intervention not yet possible, first responders show
extraordinary courage managing patients with infectious diseases. Since
the AIDS epidemic broke out in 1981, over 36 million have died of AIDS-related
illnesses. While world death rates are down from 2.3 million in 2005,
there are still are still 1.6 million expected to die in 2014. U.N.’s
World Health Organization hopes to prevent Ebola from turning into another
AIDS-like global pandemic. Frieden’s leadership at the CDC is essential to
mounting the best possible response to the Ebola crisis. “I think that is
just wrong,” referring to Frieden, said Dr. Gavin MacGreggor-Skinner, an
infections disease expert from Pennsylvania State University.
Like a general blaming infantry deaths on soldiers’ failure to follow proper
military protocol, Frieden jumped the gun about how a Dallas nurse contracted
Ebola from her patient. “We haven’t provided them with a national training
program. We haven’t provided them with the necessary experts that have
actually worked in hospitals with Ebola,” said MacGreggor-Skinner, not admitting
that no matter what the training or precautions, first responders are still at
greater risk of infection. While there’s better training or more
precautions to take, doctors, nurses or anyone else in direct patient care are
always at higher risk. Whether soldiers, police, firefighters or health
care workers, those on the frontlines of war, health crises or other disasters
are at greater risk. Leaders need to show utmost respect for the first
responders before pointing fingers at what went wrong.
Blaming first responders does little to improve the training, skills and
precautions needed to minimize exposure and casualties to health care workers
dealing with Ebola or other infectious diseases. Government bureaucrats
need to choose words carefully before showing too little sensitivity to the real
risks to first responders, who, through no fault of their own, may still succumb
to the risks. Wearing two sets of gloves or protective gear, breathing
through respirators, using disinfectants, etc., still can’t stop first
responders from getting infected, no matter what the precautions.
Government bureaucrats, like Frieden, should show more consideration to
frontline folks that take the risks to save lives and protect public welfare.
No matter what the precautions, first responders bear a disproportionate risk to
government officials concerned more with policy and PR than saving lives.
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