National Nurses United, America's largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the US recently published a press release stating the yield of a survey they have recently conducted to gauge the capabilities of US hospitals in handling Ebola cases.
The said survey has established that only 1 in 5 hospitals in the US can handle patients who are brought in for Ebola symptoms.
Looking further into the details, the survey has revealed that 80% of US hospitals are yet to communicate policy when a potential Ebola victim is brought to their facility. 87% has admitted that the staff in their hospital has not received any education or training on Ebola handling. 33% said that their hospital does not even have the protective gear necessary for handling Ebola patients or those who may have the virus. Still, 60% of the respondents admitted that their hospital did not plan to put up isolation rooms for patients who will confirm positive for the virus.
After receiving these feedback, the NNU has urged health officials in the country to come up with an Ebola preparedness plan for every single hospital. The union has specifically suggested for hospitals to educate their staff and draw out a protocol for testing and isolating patients who may have contracted the virus.
They have also stressed the need for hospitals to maintain a stock of protective gear such as Hazmat suits in order to deal with patient to carer transmission. Isolation rooms geared with proper equipment is yet another that requires urgency.
Those who test positive for Ebola and even those who show signs of the virus should be properly isolated and handled especially after the CDC has admitted that casual contact with an affected individual may transmit the virus to a new victim.
Solidifying training and knowledge on Ebola patient handling protocols, then is an immediate concern for all hospitals in the US.
The NNU believes that if these urgent suggestions will be worked on by hospitals in the US the failure of a Dallas hospital to properly isolated and handle an Ebola-stricken patient and the failure to properly inform health officials regarding the patient's actual health status will be ultimately prevented.