Family: Nurse Amber Vinson was 'in no way careless'
DALLAS — The family of the second nurse to contract Ebola in the United States, released a statement Sunday rejecting claims that she acted carelessly by getting on an airplane.
Amber Vinson's family defended her decision to fly on Frontier Flight 1143.
"To be clear, in no way was Amber careless prior to or after her exposure to Mr. Thomas Eric Duncan. She has not and would not knowingly expose herself or anyone else," the statement reads.
Vinson, 29, was the first to request to stay at Texas Health Presbyterian until the end of her 21-day monitoring period, according to the statement. She was told that the agency would consider it.
The statement asserts that Vinson was fully cleared to travel by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that she was contacted by the Dallas County Health Department after her colleague, Nina Pham, was diagnosed with Ebola. Both nurses treated Duncan.
The Health Department reached out to all health care workers who had contact with Duncan, who died of Ebola on Oct. 8.
Vinson arranged to fly back to Dallas as a precaution after being informed of Pham's diagnosis.
Last week, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said Vinson had violated CDC guidelines against anyone using public transport while undergoing self-monitoring for exposure to Ebola.
But a CDC spokesman said Wednesday night that Vinson had spoken with the agency and was cleared to fly from Cleveland to Dallas by the CDC official responsible for monitoring her health.
CDC spokesman David Daigle said Vinson spoke with the official and reported her temperature was below 100.4 degrees and had no symptoms, and the official said she could board the flight.
Her family's statement emphasizes that Vinson cooperated with the hospital and the CDC and was proactive in self-monitoring her symptoms before diagnosis.
"Suggestions that she ignored any of the physician and government-provided protocols recommended to her are patently untrue and hurtful," the statement reads.
Vinson is currently being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Contributing: Rick Jervis, Doug Stanglin and Liz Szabo, Paste BN
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