Ebola in the ER

Here's a confidence-builder. Anyone who's ever waited hour-after-hour in a hospital Emergency Room will get this - a man was exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone, got sick in Germany, went to the ER, told them he had been exposed to Ebola, requested the blood test, and was left in the public waiting room for hours before he was seen by a doctor. Helps us understand why West Africans don't trust hospitals. [HINT: It's not just superstition.] ...In a similar vein, a man died in an ER waiting room, in his wheelchair after waiting 34 hours for attention in a Winnipeg Hospital. ....What if he'd had Ebola?

….Bonn-based journalist Abu-Bakarr Jalloh…. recently returned from Freetown in Sierra Leone, where he had been in close contact with Ebola patients on a reporting assignment. He was feeling unwell and tried desperately to get a blood test to confirm he was Ebola-free. He was shocked by the response of medical staff.

"You go to the emergency clinic and you would sit there for hours and hours and tell them 'Hey my case could be very serious, take it seriously.'" Even when he explained that he could be a carrier of the virus, he was told that emergency patients are the priority. "As long as you don't look like you're dying, you're not a priority," Jalloh said.

Jalloh says the response he got to his case in Germany has made him think that "the measures that authorities in Europe and airliners are taking aren't sufficient."

Man who died waiting 34 hours in ER identified

A man who died while waiting 34 hours for care in a Winnipeg emergency room has been identified.

Brian Sinclair, 45, died at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre (WHSC) in what some are calling the worst emergency room failure in Manitoba's history.

This is something that unfortunately happens everywhere and probably won't change. Well, it would if people would stop going to the E.R. because they have a hangnail, or need a pregnancy test.

I've never had Ebola, and I pray that I will never get it in my future. I do know from experience though, that unless you are bleeding from your eyesockets and missing an arm, you are not a priority.

I once went to the E.R. because I thought I had appendicitis. I was running a high fever, could hardly move... I looked like death. I waited in the E.R. waiting room for six hours. Thankfully I did not have appendicitis, but what if I did?

E.R. services need to change, just as much as most other medical things need changed.

good scenario,,follows,,

"suffered from vomitting, loose motions and high fever."

given first clue:

"suffered from vomitting, loose motions and high fever." over the radio,,
immediate thoughts??









"Mini Majhi from the Gajapati district died, on her way to the hospital."


one dies on way too hospital,,



"six students is stated to be critical."



given first clue:

"suffered from vomitting, loose motions and high fever." over the radio,,





immediate thoughts??



















"after consuming contaminated food"

whew,,pretty scetchy,,,long tail cat in room full of,,

because its "India on Sunday, 31 August, 2014"

yeah,,

a reply to: BobAthome

Our world is chock-full of food-borne diseases, and others that mimic Ebola. The key always is to find out if the patient has travelled to West Africa, and/or been exposed to Ebola. The journalist in the OP article WAS exposed and DID inform hospital staff of his exposure. That alone should have triggered a different response. ....Your example doesn't even qualify for "isolated but tested negative" false alarm. [tsk]

a reply to: soficrow

well thats the whole point isnt it,, too get general practitioners /medical staff ,, too change the first most important question,when confronted with,,,"suffered from vomitting, loose motions and high fever."

next question should now be,,key always is to find out if the patient has travelled to West Africa,

just trying,, but if u so desire too tsk,tsk, me well. ok.

a reply to: soficrow

Good lord,that is crazy,yet I am not surprised.
At least the guy in Germany was good enough to be honest about his exposure,and go to the hospital-I think many would not have done that,and possibly gone on to infect others.

a reply to: soficrow

went to the ER, told them he had been exposed to Ebola, requested the blood test, and was left in the public waiting room for hours before he was seen by a doctor

Emergency room receiving nurses don't believe anything the patient says. Its up to the doctor to determine that.

Unless blood is spurting or patient is convulsing generally everyone is told to take a seat. Walkin patients take a back seat to "real" emergencies. The time to wait is determined by how heavy the flow of ambulances and helicopters landing on the roof. If their is a freeway pile up or fire nearby, forget it.

I used to escort patients to the ER and I knew the level of emergency was tiered.

If you walk in, you wait. I wonder how many hypochondriacs are clogging the ER with fears of Ebola?

"Have a seat… NEXT!"

a reply to: soficrow

my qualify er,,,,would have been,, the "suffered from vomitting, loose motions and high fever." ,,part.
remeber this is a call made too the ER,,,

a reply to: BobAthome

Okay, sorry, gotcha. ....But seems our system assumes people lie (so nurse/doctors don't bother asking) while volunteer aid workers and doctors assume people are going to tell the truth. Maybe we need to find some middle ground here? [And I don't mean rapid diagnostics.]

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: soficrow

At least the guy in Germany was good enough to be honest about his exposure,and go to the hospital-I think many would not have done that,and possibly gone on to infect others.

Yep, they do - starting with infecting hospital staff. ....But there MUST be a solution to the problem...?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: soficrow

went to the ER, told them he had been exposed to Ebola, requested the blood test, and was left in the public waiting room for hours before he was seen by a doctor

Emergency room receiving nurses don't believe anything the patient says. Its up to the doctor to determine that.

.....I wonder how many hypochondriacs are clogging the ER with fears of Ebola?

"Have a seat… NEXT!"

Back to the key questions about travel and exposure - and maybe training in interrogation techniques? ....Suspect you're right about those hypochondriacs - but also suspect many so-called hypochondriacs are actually get sick and are mis-diagnosed, abused by health systems. ....

a reply to: soficrow

if there was only some way too have a patients name, cross referenced with his passport, travel info , and produce some kind of flag pop up on the computer screen of the "patient information" section of the program,,

if there was only a way,,, scratch and sighs,,,,yeah.

originally posted by: soficrow

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: soficrow

At least the guy in Germany was good enough to be honest about his exposure,and go to the hospital-I think many would not have done that,and possibly gone on to infect others.

Yep, they do - starting with infecting hospital staff. ....But there MUST be a solution to the problem...?

I wish I knew what the solution was-but if someone who is symptomatic travels to a hospital,they could have contaminated many surfaces/seats/door knobs/toilets/sinks on the way to the hospital.
If they test positive,by that time maybe hundreds of other people have touched those same places,and some of those people could become infected without knowing they were exposed.

That is scary,they go home to their families,and think they may have the flu a few days later.
Sadly,this is a very possible scenario,and I wish I knew the answer but I don't.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

well at least in the United States they can track everyone's "West Africa" travells,,right??
or would that be against some law and interpretation??
u never know.

a reply to: BobAthome

for instance,,going too West African,,u must check in at the American Embassy / Hospital every 7 days,,for blood work,

every 7 days u are there,,
then u can go back too usa after, a period of 7 days from your last blood work.

simple.

a reply to: BobAthome

That seems sensible-they really do that?
I don't think the UK does the same,but maybe we should.

a reply to: BobAthome

if there was only some way too have a patients name, cross referenced with his passport, travel info , and produce some kind of flag pop up on the computer screen of the "patient information" section of the program,,

Oh yipes. No.

a reply to: soficrow

....Suspect you're right about those hypochondriacs - but also suspect many so-called hypochondriacs are actually get sick and are mis-diagnosed, abused by health systems. ….

To some extent. Depends on the insurance coverage. If the local hospital accepts walk ins to ER, a lot of the time those people are poor or uninsured, sometimes they fake emergencies to get prescriptions or avoid paying fees for a regular doctor visit.

After signing in you wait to be seen by ER staff. As soon as they are done with all the blood spurting and convulsions they will see you. Thats the problem with walkin ER "waiting rooms". Depending on the hour of day or night the staff is limited in their capacity to respond. Ever go there on a weekend in the evening? The waiting rooms are full and thats why people wait for prolonged periods.

Just from personal experience.

By the way we have this shiny new hospital near us. Its huge and multi storied. At all the entrances to the buildings parking lot there are big signs that say, "No Walkin Emergency Service".

Supposedly all the rooms that place has for patients were all booked before the place was even built. It is strictly designed to cater to the insured.

The beds are filled with chronic old people being strung along on tubes and beeping machines in intensive care scenarios to prolong their lives one more day.

We wonder about the lack of care for the young and less fortunate or even regular folk that can't afford full coverage…


theres your sign.

a reply to: intrptr

The waiting rooms are full

u start projectile vommiting and uncontroled shiitting in your pants,,, then i dont see,,,The waiting rooms are full as a problem,,,

although i could be wrong.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse

originally posted by: soficrow

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: soficrow

At least the guy in Germany was good enough to be honest about his exposure,and go to the hospital-I think many would not have done that,and possibly gone on to infect others.

Yep, they do - starting with infecting hospital staff. ....But there MUST be a solution to the problem...?

I wish I knew what the solution was-but if someone who is symptomatic travels to a hospital,they could have contaminated many surfaces/seats/door knobs/toilets/sinks on the way to the hospital.
If they test positive,by that time maybe hundreds of other people have touched those same places,and some of those people could become infected without knowing they were exposed.

That is scary,they go home to their families,and think they may have the flu a few days later.
Sadly,this is a very possible scenario,and I wish I knew the answer but I don't.

Unfortunately, that's exactly how epidemics and pandemics happen. ....We all need to return to our Grandma's ways - hyper-hygienic, safety conscious, vigilant, like that. Can't rely on pills no more. Maybe not such a bad thing.