By: Dale Weckbacher
Matthew 14:14
And when Jesus went
out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and
healed their sick.
NKJV
Healing the sick was a vital part
of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus
healed the sick out of His compassion for them (Matthew 14:14). Healing the sick was also a demonstration
that Jesus was the one sent from God (Matthew 11:2-4). Today, doctors, nurses, and others working in
the healthcare industry are in essence carrying on the same work Christ did
when he walked the face of the earth.
Unfortunately, with the revelation of a healthcare professional in
Dallas contracting Ebola while treating Thomas Eric Duncan (1) ,
we now must realize that healthcare workers are now the new first responders in
the war on Ebola.
However, are these new first
responders prepared to handle a pandemic and are we equipping them with the
resources necessary to treat patients safely.
The nurses’ union in Dallas would answer that question with a resounding
no if recent allegations are true for according to CNN Chief Medical
Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta Mr. Duncan was not put into Isolation for several
hours. His blood, tainted with the Ebola
virus, also circulated through the hospital’s tube system. (2) It would appear from the allegations that
many hospitals, in spite of the fact that they have the newest and most
technologically advanced equipment, are not prepared for Ebola.
Of course, the CDC is on top of
the situation so there is no need to fear, right. Wrong, for even the CDC now admits it could
have done more on Ebola. (3) The CDC now admits to failing to do all they
should have done to prevent Nina Pham, a healthcare worker in Dallas, from
contracting Ebola while treating Mr. Duncan.
In other words, the CDC, which has a duty to prevent the spread of
deadly diseases like Ebola in the United States, admits it may be unable to
protect healthcare workers who are the first responders when an infected person
shows up at a hospital, urgent care center, or doctor’s office. We also must consider other patients and visitors
exposed to Ebola prior the placing of Mr. Duncan into isolation.
I hope that it is not too late for
the CDC to develop a plan to equip healthcare workers so they can safely handle
patients potentially infected with this deadly disease. The plan must include
1) Preventing
people from infected countries from entering our nation. When a boat is sinking, the first thing to do
is plug up the hole. One man already
made it past screening at the airport in Liberia and the United States because
he was not showing symptoms. Since Ebola
has a gestation period of 21 days, we must wonder how many may have already
passed the screening process, not showing symptoms but already infected. The only way to prevent these people from
infecting others in our country is to stop them from entering the country.
2) Use
of the military to bring back citizens of the United States that are already in
infected countries. This will allow us
to control the situation and keep these people in isolation for the 21-day
gestation period, insuring they are not infected and cannot infect others.
3) Training
of healthcare professionals. We must
insure our healthcare workers know how to recognize the symptoms of Ebola and
know the precautions necessary to prevent them from contracting the disease.
4) Equipping
major hospital emergency rooms with isolation units so potential Ebola patients
are immediately isolated from the general public and so healthcare workers can take
the proper precautions when treating these patients.
5) Most
importantly, the government needs to be honest with the American People. The government is rightfully interested in
calming the public’s fears and not creating a panic. However, the fact that at least one healthcare
worker has been infected and the surfacing of allegations pointing to the
possibility we may not be prepared to handle a pandemic, a panic may
happen. In the information age it is
increasingly difficult to hide facts from the public so coming out in the open
with the truth is actually the best way to calm a panic.
Every day, healthcare workers go
to work and in the course of their duties are exposed to sick people. Many of these people have contagious diseases
and in the course of treating these patients, healthcare workers expose
themselves to these diseases.
Fortunately, most of the diseases healthcare workers encounter are
treatable and if they become sick, they will recover. However, Ebola is different and has high
death rate. We must do everything we can
to insure that those who have dedicated their lives to treating us when we get
sick, can do it without having to risk their own lives in the process.
Like Jesus, many individuals go to
work every day treating those of us who are sick. For many of them it is not just a job, it is
something they do out of compassion. It
is now our turn to show them compassion by urging our leaders to provide a
defensive shield and ban entry into our country from nations experiencing an
Ebola outbreak. We also must implement a
plan for training these compassionate healthcare workers on how to treat
infected individuals who may already be in our country.
Is this too much to ask?
1. Sickles, Jason. Nina Pham identified as
Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola. news.yahoo.com. [Online] Yahoo News,
October 13, 2014. [Cited: October 14, 2014.]
http://news.yahoo.com/nina-pham-identified-as-dallas-nurse-with-ebola-165521689.html.
2. Breitbart TV.
NURSES UNION: DUNCAN NOT PUT IN ISOLATION, WASTE PILED NEARLY UP TO CEILING. www.breitbart.com.
[Online] Breitbart News, October 14, 2014. [Cited: October 14, 2014.]
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/10/14/Nurses-Union-Duncan-Not-Put-In-Isolation-Waste-Nearly-Piled-Up-to-Ceiling.
3. Merchant, Emily
Schmall and Nomaan. CDC acknowledges it could have done more on Ebola. news.yahoo.com.
[Online] Yahoo News, October 14, 2014. [Cited: October 14, 2014.]
https://news.yahoo.com/doctor-gives-blood-ebola-infected-dallas-nurse-050231595.html.
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