2nd Texas Healthcare Worker Tests Positive for Ebola
Local health officials say more cases among Texas Health Presbyterian’s workers could develop.
Nurses who treated the original patient who died say they worked without proper protective gear. In this photo, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden goes through the decontamination process in Africa wearing a Hazmat suit. Photo CDC.
Another worker who helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan who died of Ebola has tested positive for the virus.
The unidentified female reported having a fever on Tuesday and was then isolated at the hospital.
This is the second worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to contract the disease, reports ABC News. Local health officials say more cases among Texas Health Presbyterian’s workers could develop. As a result, authorities are tracking 75 people who treated Duncan.
The other patient, 26-year-old Nina Pham, who is a nurse who also treated Duncan, has had her condition upgraded to “good.”
Nurses who treated Duncan have complained about the hospital’s Ebola protocols and procedures, and say they worked without proper protective gear. On Sunday, National Nurses United called for all hospitals to have in place the highest standard of optimal protections, including Hazmat suits, and hands-on training to protect all RNs and other hospital personnel to confront Ebola.
“There is no standard short of optimal in protective equipment and hands-on-training that is acceptable,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the organization.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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