So far this hospital has completely screwed up both in providing medical services and explaining what happened. Does it really make sense that an apparent emergency room worker would be wearing full protective gear including a face shield before they had even diagnosed Ebola? And if so how did the virus get through? Magic? No somebody, most likely the infected person, screwed up. All it takes is a touch of your comtaminated gloved hand to your unprotected face.
Like when they blamed the computer system then later denied it was a problem or when they said the initial patient's fever was 101 and it later turned out to be 104 we may have to wait for the truth to come out, if it ever does.
Lets be honest here, the only facilities which did screw it up, Emory being one, are specifically setup and trained for this type of containment. They also knew they had patients coming.
This is why Ebola is such a threat. It takes time to incubate, it looks like other less harmful health problems early on, and it spreads. Yet air travel goes on impeded and borders are open. SARS led to more restrictions that Ebola.
Honestly it really seems we are trying to rationalize away the problem. We are coming up with excuses for cases that go against what people were told to expect. This is not how you contain a problem, its how you create a bigger one.
So what is the threshold before people should be concerned? five more cases? twenty? A hundred? If it gets to a dozen I am pretty sure people will expect travel to locked down and more.
From the Post article linked here, "The person treated Duncan, the Ebola patient, after his second visit to the ER, on Sept. 28." This was not an ER worker, and their contact with the patient was after the diagnosis.
I may be wrong that it may be an ER worker but according to the NY Times "it occurred at some point DURING or after his second visit to the hospital on Sept. 28."[1] He tested positive on Sept. 30.[2] We will have to wait to see what the facts turn out to be.
Do you recall if the original alleged computer system problem mentioned a particular EHR? Not sure I read anything except vague references to software error.
According to National Review it was Epic. This makes sense given their market share but keep in mind that National Review have an axe to grind as Epic is a big Obama/Obamacare supporter. Best to find additional confirmation.
BTW - Epic has my local hospital chain by the balls after a few failed attempts to build alternatives. It looks like something from the 1990s - super modal interface in a remote desktop.
Like when they blamed the computer system then later denied it was a problem or when they said the initial patient's fever was 101 and it later turned out to be 104 we may have to wait for the truth to come out, if it ever does.