U.S. hospitals not ready for Ebola outbreak:octor: ‘I’m tired of gov’t glibly downplaying something as important as this’
Leo Hohmann
WND.com
Aug. 8, 2014
If Ebola started spreading inside the United States, the responsibility for quarantining Americans who fell ill with the deadly virus would fall to local hospitals, and many health professionals question whether the facilities would be up to the task.
A senior press officer at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta confirmed to WND Friday that the CDC’s 20 quarantine stations located at ports of entry and border areas are not designed to house domestic patients.
“Those are for people entering the states and for travelers,” said Benjamin Haynes, spokesman for the CDC’s Infectious Disease Team.
He said the 20 stations “were strictly designed to stop the spread of diseases through travel and ports of entry. If there were a serious outbreak (inside the country), I’m not sure. Usually hospitals will set up those quarantine stations – it just really depends on the situation. I don’t know if there’s ever been a situation of a major outbreak like that, and if so I’m not aware of it.”
Asked if American hospitals are prepared to treat Ebola patients even in small towns and rural areas, Haynes deferred to Kristen Nordlund, another CDC spokesperson.
“Basically any U.S. hospital that follows CDC safety guidelines, infection guidelines, can isolate a patient in their own room and safely manage a patient suspected of having Ebola or a patient with Ebola,” Nordlund told WND. “We don’t really expect an outbreak to happen, so people in the U.S. really don’t have much to worry about.”
To worry or not to worry?
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