Ebola in the News
A Virus is Among Us
AN Appeal
Please take time to read this if you are involved in Law
Enforcement, Emergency Response, First Responders, or caring for those who are
sick in emergency situations.
DISCLAIMER and
explanation
I am not a medical doctor, therefore what I write here
today needs to be checked out and personal research performed to be better
educated regarding this deadly disease which we are seeing in America
already. Also, I do not claim to have
definitive answers and will in not wise attempt to make it appear so in this
blog. That is my disclaimer!
What I am is a pastor of a rural county seat congregation
and Chaplain of the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Coosa County
Emergency Management Agency. I have
served in Emergency Services with two volunteer Fire Departments and as past
Chief of Rockford Fire Department. As
such, I am also a member of the ESF-8 committee, which serves as a health care
coalition for our county, with the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Yesterday (Tuesday, October 14, 2014), our County’s EMA
Director and myself attended the quarterly meeting of the ESF-8 coalition and
were informed regarding some of the safeguards we need to take in our county.
Therefore, I am bringing to you information which I hope
would be helpful to you or at the least some “real-time” news regarding the
recent Ebola reports from our nation.
EBOLA NEWS
According to press articles late last night and today, there are at least two cases of Ebola being treated in Dallas. One is the result of a nurse who treated an infected Liberian man who died of Ebola last week and the other is a health care worker who traveled to Ohio before she knew that the first nurse had been diagnosed.
Nurse Nina Pham, was hospitalized in Dallas after showing signs of a virus. Pham's diagnosis with Ebola was disclosed on Sunday. It appears that the second health care worker, which remains unidentified, flew from Dallas to Cleveland, Ohio, then back through Atlanta before showing signs of a virus. She has now been diagnosed and is undergoing self-monitoring.
It is said that the virus is considered contagious in an individual who has come in contact with the Ebola virus until they have symptoms. This usually does not occur until 2-21 days. But the CDC is asking passengers on Monday's flight to call the health agency so they can be monitored. It is most likely no one on the flight was infected, but the CDC is taken all necessary precautions.
WHAT IS IT?
The Ebola Virus is a viral infection. It is considered a rare but deadly virus that causing bleeding inside and outside the body. Through spreading through the body, the virus causes damage to the immune system and organs of the body. In time this will lead to the blood-clotting cells to drop, giving way to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.
The disease is also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever or Ebola virus and kills up to 90% of people who are infected.
“Ebola isn’t as contagious as more common viruses like colds, influenza, or measles. It spreads
to people by contact with the skin or bodily
fluids of an infected animal, like a monkey, chimp, or fruit bat. Then it moves
from person to person the same way. Those who care for a sick person or bury someone who has
died from the disease often get it.”
There are other ways to get Ebola which include touching contaminated needles or surfaces. But we are assured that a person cannot get Ebola from air, water, or food. A person who has Ebola but has no symptoms is unable to spread the disease.
Symptoms of the disease are closely akin to the common cold or flu, and other like illnesses. Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after infection and usually include:
- High fever
- Headache
- Joint and muscle aches
- Sore throat
- Weakness
- Stomach pain
- Lack of appetite
As the disease progresses, it causes bleeding inside the body, as well as from the eyes, ears, and nose. Some people will vomit or cough up blood, have bloody diarrhea, and get a rash.
The diagnosing is sometimes hard. It is reported that this is especially true in attempting to tell if a person has Ebola from the symptoms alone. Doctors may test to rule out other diseases like cholera or malaria. This will involve testing of the blood and tissues. When it is determined an individual does have Ebola, isolation from the public will take place immediately to prevent the spread.
There is no cure for Ebola, though researchers are working on it. Treatment includes an experimental serum that destroys infected cells. Yet Doctors can and will manage the symptoms of Ebola with:
- Fluids and electrolytes
- Oxygen
- Blood pressure medication
- Blood transfusions
- Treatment for other infections
Since there is no vaccine to prevent Ebola the best way to avoid catching the disease is by not traveling to areas where the virus is found. Health care workers can prevent infection by wearing masks, gloves, and goggles whenever they come into contact with people who may have Ebola. It is also important that the handling of dead be carried out with great care, since the disease can still be transmitted through bodily fluids.
Special Precautions
We live in an isolated area, primarily rural, and have no
airports or a great number of people traveling to foreign countries. For the most part we excluded from the
potential of the Ebola Virus.
Yet, there is the potential-even though the risk is
slight-that we need to take into consideration.
Through our rural county, two major thoroughfares exist which carry
traffic from various locations, larger and more populated areas to the same in
the other direction.
Alabama Highway 231 and Alabama Highway 280 both could
present possible contact points with this virus and thus cause alarm. Highway 280 is a major highway out of
Birmingham, which has an International Airport, travelers passing through our
county to destinations such as Auburn, Columbus, Fort Benning, and points
south. Highway 231 is coming from
Montgomery which has a regional airport, with some travelers who have switched
planes in Atlanta, Birmingham or Nashville.
We have Maxwell Air Force Base, a major bus station, and several colleges
with international students who might be traveling north.
With that said, should a passenger passing through our
county begin to show signs of illness or distress, and one of our ten volunteer
fire departments, two ambulance services, or law enforcement officers are
contacted to assist such a situation, what are they to do? What precautions should they take?
Here are a few suggestions:
Before you proceed to the
automobile or come in contact with the individual, ask a few of the important
questions to assess the situation.
·
Are you vomiting?
·
Are you bleeding externally through the nose
or ears?
·
Have you traveled outside of the United
States within the last month?
If the answers are yes to any one of these questions, do the
following before you personally contact the individual:
·
Put on a mask.
Not just a surgical mask, but an N95 mask.
·
Double glove.
While some might think this is extreme, it is better to be safe than
sorry.
·
Use a shield to protect your eyes and face. While again this might seem to be overboard,
it is better to protect from possible contamination of saliva, vomit or blood
splashing or projectile hitting your face than later thinking there was
something you could have done to protect yourself.
If you encounter a deceased individual traveling through or someone
from out of the county with connections to major cities or travels outside of
the United States, use extra caution.
·
Use the above recommendations.
·
Use body bags.
·
Have available disinfectants to clean anything
areas where fluids may have discharged.
CONCLUSION
As best as possible I have shared what information I have
at the present time. I am sure there
will be other articles to come, but for the time use the links below or Google
EBOLA and educate yourself. It is better
to be prepared than to become a statistic.
No comments:
Post a Comment