On Thursday, Twitchy brought you the story of the George Washington University cardiologist who sharply criticized the CDC’s instructions on Ebola protective gear for health care workers. Here were the tweets we featured in that post:
This is from CDC web page for Ebola personal protective equipment. Notice exposed skin at face & neck. Unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/ChTJwOFGE7
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) October 16, 2014
Follow these instructions from CDC website for removing gloves & you risk contamination. Not how to do it. pic.twitter.com/0pIwqhbMIf
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) October 16, 2014
This is how CDC advises how to safely remove gloves. It is wrong. pic.twitter.com/qCiRiub10a
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) October 15, 2014
The instructions Dr. Reiner referenced were posted here and were linked on the CDC’s Ebola page under the title “Sequence for Putting On and Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)[PDF – 3 pages].”) Here is a screencap showing the link (inside the pink box) as of Thursday October 16th (three days ago):
Yesterday, the link to the instructions on CDC’s Ebola page was gone. It’s still gone today. Try going directly to the instructions and this “page not found” error comes up:
Many health care workers — not just Dr. Reiner — had expressed concerns (or, in some cases, outright alarm) about the now-removed instructions:
This has to be rethought for Ebola. http://t.co/RI0iSaTzK6
— Aashish Kiran Shah (@draashishkshah) October 18, 2014
So my hair, neck, shoes, pants wont be "contaminated"?! I work in PPE everyday- wont cut it #Ebola #hazmat #papr http://t.co/4mbHgTtvBm
— Megan Whitley (@megwhtly) October 17, 2014
Recommended
#ebola @CDC_eHealth @CDCFlu http://t.co/RDxEEiGeBi
Really – remove gloves before gown? on Example 1. Seems wrong.
— Jordan Shlain MD (@DrShlain) October 15, 2014
@foxnewshealth How many more Healthcare workers need to get Ebola before CDC updates to wear hooded respirator? http://t.co/Pa1tRCAwtC
— Kevin Cope MD (@FamilyMedMD) October 15, 2014
#Ebola. Anyone else worried about these guidelines? Single gloved. Bare finger to remove 2nd glove. No boots….. http://t.co/sHTqAGqx8Q
— Global Biosecurity (@Globalbiosec) October 15, 2014
@DrFriedenCDC @CDCgov Example 1 has at least two potential sites for #ebola self-exposure… http://t.co/qqQLHvZrEz pic.twitter.com/a21JMrd7Ax
— Ernest Wang (@Dr_CommonSense) October 14, 2014
Why doesn't http://t.co/CWRw7Ynfad include shoe coverings? H/T @kahngirls (Has your research found reasons for this, @tonydokoupil?)
— Andy Kahn, MD, FACEP (@andy_kahn) October 13, 2014
Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, defended the CDC’s guidelines last week on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show. “More is not always better,” he said after Kelly asked him about CDC guidance to wear just one pair of gloves, and no protective gear for the head and feet. However, when he visited with Ebola patients in Africa Frieden wore a full hazmat suit.
Belgian politician Louis Ide, a member of the European Parliament, tweeted about the CDC’s removal of its guidelines:
@EbolaPhone Yes indeed. And when @CDCgov removed link guideline they should explain it on their site why they dit so.
— Louis Ide (@louis_ide) October 18, 2014
@EbolaPhone This was the link: http://t.co/PFRUia3NZm I still have the pdf on my PC in the hospital.
— Louis Ide (@louis_ide) October 18, 2014
@EbolaPhone It was a three pager pdf especially created for PPE #ebola with cartoons. Yours is an general one.
— Louis Ide (@louis_ide) October 18, 2014
“They should explain it on their site why they [did] so.” Indeed, they should.
We’re sure the Ebola czar will get right on this.
Update:
Via the Wayback Machine, here’s a link to the now-deleted poster.
Related:
‘Unacceptable’; Cardiologist shreds CDC instructions on Ebola protective gear
CDC Director Frieden defends CDC’s now-removed Ebola protective gear instructions
Megyn Kelly calls out Frieden for hypocrisy on Ebola protective gear
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