This could be the scariest thing we’ve seen yet on Ebola.
Meet Briana Aguirre, a nurse at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, who sat down with NBC’s Matt Lauer this morning and offered a blistering critique of her employer’s response to Ebola patient-zero Thomas Eric Duncan.
Brianna alleges that the hospital “never talked about Ebola” prior to Duncan’s arrival, there has been no “educator” on staff for the past eight months and there was an overall level of bewilderment on what to do once Duncan arrived. At around eight minutes in, Briana tells how nurses were forced to wrap tape around their necks to cover gaps in their protective clothing. And at twelve minutes in, Briana speaks of a rebellion by the nurses who “refused” to keep working under conditions they deemed unsafe and unsanitary:
Watch @MLauer's full interview with Texas Health Presbyterian nurse Briana Aguirre here: http://t.co/gjW3g0gxFR
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 16, 2014
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After seeing this, it’s a wonder that more people weren’t infected by Duncan. Let’s see how the hospital reacts as Briana ended the segment in tears and in fear of losing her job:
@TODAYshow @MLauer #BrianaAquirre #CDC Hoping this brave nurse won't face any repercussions for speaking out! Can't trust CDC at this point.
— Julieo (@Jsulieo) October 16, 2014
And here’s Sanjay Gupta from last night suggesting that the CDC has lost confidence in the staff at Texas Health Presybterian and that is one of the reasons the second nurse infected by Duncan was flown to Atlanta rather than staying in Dallas for treatment:
Is Atlanta hospital better for #Ebola patients? http://t.co/WIttyvCqvR – @drsanjaygupta reports #TheLead
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 15, 2014
And interestingly enough, Gupta made this exact point and said, paraphrasing, that it’s remarkable to him that the procedures in African hospitals are better than the ones in Dallas:
https://twitter.com/moparlover1968/status/522522826885308416
https://twitter.com/Politicolnews/status/522546449062825984
After watching what Briana said to Matt Lauer — if true — then that Dallas hospital does indeed sound like it is playing catch-up to the clinics in West Africa and that’s really, really scary.
Related:
‘Unacceptable’; Cardiologist shreds CDC instructions on Ebola protective gear
PREVIEW: Why today’s House hearing on Team Obama’s Ebola response matters for 2014
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