Cruise passenger who handled ebola sample being returned to US.

I don't think any regular hospital in this country was prepared for Ebola. Duncan could walked into any one of them and it probably would have been the same result. CDC is not doing what it should to protect U.S. citizens. It spends money on ridiculous studies (flies getting drunk) and doesn't concentrate on serious diseases. It's head is an idiot who should step down. That's not to say the Dallas hospital performed at a high level. Maybe some good will come out of this and the U.S. will be the forerunner in coming up with a vaccine. I pray for both nurses!!

Maybe the CDC should hire you!!!!

While I commend Princess for taking a stand, I wonder how forthcoming the information will be from the passengers filling out the form?

Good point.

IMHO, I don't think there is anything to worry about as Lab Techs alway use universal precautions when handling specimens. However, you never know. As I said on the other Ebola thread, Lab techs are trained and experienced in handling specimens from many infectious diseases unlike the nurses who were thrown into a situation that they were untrained for and poorly protected from.

OMG.. I worked for years in Biotech and we were developing instruments to test blood for all kinds of infectious diseases. Every year we took classes on Blood. The lab techs were the worst group ever for not wearing protective gear or if they did wear it they handled all kinds of stuff before they took off their gloves. Half the time they didnt even remove their gloves properly. I use to catch them all the time.. and we had blood with some serious diseases. None of the blood samples were allowed to be labeled with the disease it carried to insure that we were testing the equipment properly.. I use to spend $60,000 on small samples.. so please dont assume Lab Techs are taking proper precautions. Europe requires blood testing equipment to be done by robotics to insure they dont spred or contaminate someone..

Now before someone gets upset... not all lab Techs do it wrong... but where I have worked 90% took short cuts...

While I commend Princess for taking a stand, I wonder how forthcoming the information will be from the passengers filling out the form?

As forthcoming as they usually are while boarding with coughs so bad it sounds like they're losing a lung. I have seen people clearly ill sign the form and walk right on.

CBC news reported this afternoon that a Canadian- made vaccine they have been working on for years should be ready to try on medical personnel in Africa by December. Lets hope it really is ready by then and can start protecting those on the front lines of this dreaded virus, and ultimately all of us.

Here is a recent news article that may be of interest regarding the development of a vaccine.

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/ebola-vaccine-developed-in-winnipeg-ready-for-human-trials-1.2051601

It really isn't all doom and gloom folks.

OMG.. I worked for years in Biotech and we were developing instruments to test blood for all kinds of infectious diseases. Every year we took classes on Blood. The lab techs were the worst group ever for not wearing protective gear or if they did wear it they handled all kinds of stuff before they took off their gloves. Half the time they didnt even remove their gloves properly. I use to catch them all the time.. and we had blood with some serious diseases. None of the blood samples were allowed to be labeled with the disease it carried to insure that we were testing the equipment properly.. I use to spend $60,000 on small samples.. so please dont assume Lab Techs are taking proper precautions. Europe requires blood testing equipment to be done by robotics to insure they dont spred or contaminate someone..

 

Now before someone gets upset... not all lab Techs do it wrong... but where I have worked 90% took short cuts...

as a 40 yr + career "medical laboratory technologist" ( " lab techs" aka "lab aides " are phlebotomists who take blood samples...lab technologists..at least in most Canadian labs...are the staff with three years training who perform the analysis on blood and other body fluid specimens) i am offended by your comment. I hope and pray your comment that " 90% took short cuts" is an exaggeration.

I worked at the largest hospital in Western canada and the largest private community lab with over 1.5 million samples analyzed annually; anyone documented taking" short cuts" would most certainly be severely dealt with.

I think there is a fair bit of panic, hysteria, misinformation and miscommunication as the world is struggling to deal with this outbreak.Your observations and opinions are yours , and yours to share , but doing so may only add to the panic.IMHO.

I just read an article in Huffington post that a health worker that had handled the Ebola sample was confined to cabin awaiting her removal back to the USA. The was a self confinement according to the article. She had left on the cruise while she was on self monitoring but now arrangements were being made to return her to USA. It did not say which ship or where she was. It did say she not symptomatic.

Self confinement...except she is free to go to the Buffet. Afterall this is a cruise!:D

Self confinement. people can't be trusted. We have seen examples.

She was suppose to monitor herself, not go on a cruise.

Whoever told the Nurse she could fly, should be fired.

Life got in the way for these people, and they did what they planned in advance. And thinking it won't happen to you.

A few years ago when the H1 flu was happening and people were dying,think how many got it here in U.S. My little granddaughter was hospitalized and almost didn't make it. Our medical center (and lots of others in San Diego) couldn't get the vaccine quick enough and most didn't get it till after the flu hit hard. That was just a flu but deadly for many.

I know we can't compare Ebola to Flu but this is so scary and needs to be contained.

Not stopping us from cruising yet, but if it gets worse, won't even consider flying and maybe not cruising locally either.

Belize and Mexico are over reacting.

While I commend Princess for taking a stand, I wonder how forthcoming the information will be from the passengers filling out the form?

When people hand over their passports it would be fairly simple to thumb through the last few pages of stamps to see if anyone was in one of the affected countries during the last 21 days. The trouble would be if they were only in transit they would not have gotten a stamp.

When people hand over their passports it would be fairly simple to thumb through the last few pages of stamps to see if anyone was in one of the affected countries during the last 21 days.

Passports rarely have the stamps in time order. Most passport agents I have come across just open up to a random page and stamp it.

My current passport has been stamped on 24 of its pages. The stamp on the last page is from 2012.

My most recent stamp (last month) is on a page with stamps from 2011 and 2013 and has 8 pages of earlier stamps after it.

So, it is not that simple to see where someone has recently traveled.

In addition, assume that someone is coming from Spain where at least two health care workers have had Ebola. A passport could have entry into the EU in France and exit from Italy with no way to tell if the passport holder had been in Spain where there could be a problem.

Very true Bill. So, we are back to self reporting on a form it seems...

OMG.. I worked for years in Biotech and we were developing instruments to test blood for all kinds of infectious diseases. Every year we took classes on Blood. The lab techs were the worst group ever for not wearing protective gear or if they did wear it they handled all kinds of stuff before they took off their gloves. Half the time they didnt even remove their gloves properly. I use to catch them all the time.. and we had blood with some serious diseases. None of the blood samples were allowed to be labeled with the disease it carried to insure that we were testing the equipment properly.. I use to spend $60,000 on small samples.. so please dont assume Lab Techs are taking proper precautions. Europe requires blood testing equipment to be done by robotics to insure they dont spred or contaminate someone..

 

Now before someone gets upset... not all lab Techs do it wrong... but where I have worked 90% took short cuts...

Honestly that's just incredibly stupid behavior. People in the industry that I know are NOT sloppy NOR do they take risks. I also take bloodborne pathogen training yearly and therefore know very well what the risks are when handling blood. If I were the supervisor of the people you work with, they would be fired in an instant. Well actually, I would have given them a warning and fired on the second offense. I hope your experience is just that, your experience.

I suppose there are always people who partake in risky behavior. And I am not suggesting that you be a whistleblower but maybe you should have reported this, even anonymously, to a supervisor. You might have done someone a big favor. And by ignoring the situation, you have become a part of it.

Has anyone noticed if the medical questionnaire has changed when you board in the last couple of weeks ?

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some specific questions now.

Has anyone noticed if the medical questionnaire has changed when you board in the last couple of weeks ?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some specific questions now.

I just got off the Golden. The questionnaire was the same old one, as far as I know.

Is this questionnaire available on line, or is it something you do just before boarding ?

Is this questionnaire available on line, or is it something you do just before boarding ?

Just before check-in.

This is how crazy this has become. A lab technician- a person that handles possibly diseased blood every working day- is now a suspected transmitter of Ebola. Should we now quarantine every lab worker due to all of the disease processes that they come across every working day?

Here here...well said.

Thus was the basis of 'universal precautions'...i remember the 'good ol' days when specimens from 'known' diseases were labelled in bright neon orange labels!

We in the biz now know how ludicrous that practice was as it clearly implied that everyone else's sample was 'safe'. And so 'universal precautions' were implemented and SOP put in place so that ALL samples were treated the SAME way....safely.