Nurse: Texas hospital unprepared to deal with Ebola
DALLAS — It was all in the neck exposure, Briana Aguirre says.
The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse is speaking out to voice concerns about the preparedness of Texas Health Presbyterian to handle Ebola, the protective equipment initially given to nurses, her concern for her colleagues and her frustrations about watching the cases unfold.
Aguirre treated nurse Nina Pham, and says the protective equipment used by Pham, nurse Amber Vinson, and other Presbyterian nurses was inadequate. They've both contracted Ebola after treating Dallas first victim Thomas Eric Duncan, who died from the disease.
"We are in our second week of our Ebola crisis, and we still have our necks hanging out," Aguirre said. "We're supposed to have every inch covered. And her neck is exposed."
Aguirre says Texas Presbyterian was simply unprepared to treat Ebola.
A widely circulated video from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas instructs nurses on how to dress in Ebola cases, as per CDC recommendations. It shows a nurse donning over-the-ankle booties, a gown, hairnet, and face shield. But her neck is bare.
"Can you imagine that being Nina (Pham) right there?" Aguirre says, holding up a picture of a nurse treating Duncan. "And her being exposed to copious amounts of bodily fluid, diarrhea, and aerosolized secretions? That what makes me upset."
Aguirre was moved to tears more than once in the interview, which was conducted outdoors, because no hotel contacted would rent a room to conduct the interview.
To protect their necks from Ebola fluids, Presbyterian nurses, Aguirre says, began taping their necks with strips of protective tape. In removing the tape, exposure to the virus likely occurred, she suspects.
"And then they want to blame her (nurse Nina Pham) for getting sick," Aguirre says, "when she was never provided the right supplies."
Health officials are concerned with potential exposure to the virus when protective gear is removed. The Parkland video demonstrates how that should be done.
"There's no doubt that Ebola can be introduced into your body by touching your eyes, your nose, your mouth," said Dr. Richard Besser of ABC News.
Thursday, Texas Health Presbyterian released a statement that addressed the tape issue as part of a longer press release. "Two onsite CDC members recommended that they pinch and tape the necks of the gown. Because our nurses continued to be concerned about removing the tape, we ordered medical shrouds," the statement said.
The statement from Presbyterian Hospital also noted that nurses who cared for Thomas Duncan wore PPE (personal protective equipment) consistent with CDC guidelines, including shoe covers, face shields, and an optional N-95 mask. The hospital followed the updates provided by the CDC, the statement said.
In Washington, Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Resources testified, "We don't yet know precisely how or when they were infected, but it's clear that there was an exposure somewhere, sometime."
Aguirre says she volunteered to treat her colleague Nina Pham when no one else would.
"That could have been me in her bed," Aguirre said.
She says the part of the hospital where Thomas Duncan was treated was in chaos. The room was full of medical waste, she said. There were no cleaning crews.
"I had to ask for a mop," she says. "And after that I had to start bleaching the floors.
Aguirre says she is proud of Texas Presbyterian and loves to work there, although she is uncertain of her employment after speaking out.