Corey Robinson, Staff Reporter Published: Thursday | October 2, 2014
If the Ebola virus should reach Jamaica, doctors at the nation's hospitals, particularly the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), do not have the safety gear needed to treat affected persons, and some say they will not expose themselves or their charges by treating Ebola patients.
 |
| Nine-year-old Nowa Paye is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, Liberia, on Tuesday. Aid donations are still inadequate, as the international community tries to increase the ability to care for the spiraling number of people infected with the disease which has hit Liberia the hardest. AP Photo |
A workshop put on yesterday, in light of the outbreak in Africa, erupted in concerns after it was disclosed that health officials in Jamaica do not have the requisite hazard-management gear, or even the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved personal protection equipment (PPE) to deal with the Ebola virus. Only standard PPE gear, consisting of a regular fabric medical gown, goggles, and N95 or N100 oxygen masks are available, and these are useless against the disease, the forum of medical doctors, firefighters and other emergency-response workers were told. The N95 can only last for four hours, according to doctors, while the N100 for 24 hours.
"If the Government doesn't supply us with these things, who is going out towork?" asked one doctor from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the UHWI, sparking murmurs among the gathering.
The doctor hinted at the possibility of an outbreak, suggesting that there are students from countries affected by the virus currently at the University of the West Indies, and frowned on the Government's lacklustre approach in preparing for the disease, which has presented itself in the United States. more
No comments:
Post a Comment