The situation that's unfolding in Africa is giving us a glimpse into what a pandemic could look like for us. Not that Ebola is going to be a pandemic here but that the conditions the Africans are experiencing now could be similar to the ones WE could face in a future pandemic of unknown origin: health care overwhelmed, hospitals shut, dead in the streets, caring for our own ill loved ones, high food prices, shortage of medical supplies, people ignoring quarantine. By taking a closer look at Africa, we can better prepare mentally & physically for a pandemic.
More from the video 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGr3WbDLvfY&list=UUcXgySSIBw4CBdJfT8PAbMQ
Dr. Bones Nurse Amy Sick Room video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLmw_nHp63g
Skinny Medic Protection Against Airborne Diseases video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDDk6SbHu4A
CDC's Infection Control FREE PDF http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/abroad/pdf/african-healthcare-setting-vhf.pdf
Excellant review of the situation which will no doubt have further developments that will merit discussion.
There is a lot to be learned here by watching this crisis as carefully as we do military conflicts . We are pretty much seeing everything humans can do to mess up in a reaction to a crisis in this pandemic in West Africa. From not exactly knowing the parameters of the time the virus is contagious and its mutation rate , containment of this virus has been vastly underestimated . The World Health Organization is now calculating the reality may be 3 -4 times worse than their statistics have indicated . But it seems to be the human behavioural factors that are propelling it to spread exponentially and this we need to look at carefully because it has created a much larger loss of life and cost to mitigate disaster than need be :
. the infected are lying outright leading to more people being exposed ( including doctors) ,
. mobbing a hospital unit driving the infected there out into the streets , looting said hospital of blood tainted items , creates a situation where now security needs to be in place before successful management can operate
. an attack with a syringe on a US Air marshall , (after the US citizens will be on the hook committing 90 million dollars in aid ) http://www.inquisitr.com/1462762/ebola-suspected-in-us-air-marshal-syringe-attack-marshal-quarantined-in-houston/ , at this point any vaccine or drug that proves effective now needs to be maintained and stockpiled in part for those countries sending in aid workers and any security breaches with infected people crossing borders instead of being sent fully to the areas affected.
.quarantine is being broken , even in Monrovia people bribe their way in and out of the quarantined zone . People who know they are infected are taking cabs in to hospitals and intentionally interacting with the public putting others at risk.
.relying on the World Health Organization and all government bureaucracy slows down the response for outside aid.
. security again is needed to protect boats and ships from transporting infected people and frankly they never closed down the airports to non essential travel fast enough and with police detachments being quarantined we will see what the behaviour of areas is like when further stressed from disruption of food, fuel etc.
What part of this behaviour is because large parts of the population are uneducated or have a cultural issue like burial customs that escalated this, what behaviours are because they are poor and unprepared ? And largely what are we seeing is just irresponsibility and desperation, human nature at its worst ? It is an unbelievable clusterf---k but it is ongoing and I for one think I better learn a lot from it.
Mike Adams is doing a series on Pandemic Preparedness...I haven't listened to any yet but will be doing so shortly
Excellant review of the situation which will no doubt have further developments that will merit discussion.
Thank you so much!!
There is a lot to be learned here by watching this crisis as carefully as we do military conflicts . We are pretty much seeing everything humans can do to mess up in a reaction to a crisis in this pandemic in West Africa. From not exactly knowing the parameters of the time the virus is contagious and its mutation rate , containment of this virus has been vastly underestimated . The World Health Organization is now calculating the reality may be 3 -4 times worse than their statistics have indicated . But it seems to be the human behavioural factors that are propelling it to spread exponentially and this we need to look at carefully because it has created a much larger loss of life and cost to mitigate disaster than need be :
. the infected are lying outright leading to more people being exposed ( including doctors) ,
. mobbing a hospital unit driving the infected there out into the streets , looting said hospital of blood tainted items , creates a situation where now security needs to be in place before successful management can operate
. an attack with a syringe on a US Air marshall , (after the US citizens will be on the hook committing 90 million dollars in aid ) http://www.inquisitr.com/1462762/ebola-suspected-in-us-air-marshal-syringe-attack-marshal-quarantined-in-houston/ , at this point any vaccine or drug that proves effective now needs to be maintained and stockpiled in part for those countries sending in aid workers and any security breaches with infected people crossing borders instead of being sent fully to the areas affected.
.quarantine is being broken , even in Monrovia people bribe their way in and out of the quarantined zone . People who know they are infected are taking cabs in to hospitals and intentionally interacting with the public putting others at risk.
.relying on the World Health Organization and all government bureaucracy slows down the response for outside aid.
. security again is needed to protect boats and ships from transporting infected people and frankly they never closed down the airports to non essential travel fast enough and with police detachments being quarantined we will see what the behaviour of areas is like when further stressed from disruption of food, fuel etc.What part of this behaviour is because large parts of the population are uneducated or have a cultural issue like burial customs that escalated this, what behaviours are because they are poor and unprepared ? And largely what are we seeing is just irresponsibility and desperation, human nature at its worst ? It is an unbelievable clusterf---k but it is ongoing and I for one think I better learn a lot from it.
What an excellent comment! You raise excellent points. It is rather horrific to see the amount of human suffering, death, and expense are inflicted on others because of the actions of a few. I feel sick at the news today of how much money and resources the US is committing. I hope the international community steps up to the plate.
I have not heard this brought up anywhere to address the limitations imposed on workers as they overheat in the protection gear. One thing that might hugely benefit efforts in West africa by those suited up in the PPE gear with at least a 50 percent boost in efficiency and lessen the chance of care workers getting infected if they could work longer in more comfort in the cooling vests firefighters wear . Surely the first world nations could subsidize shipping significant quantities of those to support the efforts others are making there.
I have not heard this brought up anywhere to address the limitations imposed on workers as they overheat in the protection gear. One thing that might hugely benefit efforts in West africa by those suited up in the PPE gear with at least a 50 percent boost in efficiency and lessen the chance of care workers getting infected if they could work longer in more comfort in the cooling vests firefighters wear . Surely the first world nations could subsidize shipping significant quantities of those to support the efforts others are making there.
That is an excellent observation. I think that's why we don't see government employees being sent to take care of patients in Africa. The CDC is training volunteers from NGO's on PPE for working with Ebola patients. I imagine it's something they just prefer not to talk about because of the cost involved. Their own employees would scream bloody murder if they had to work under those conditions, so they don't put them in that position.
I think the international community is being prudent, looking to set up security and effective distribution for supplies , back up support and security for their people they are bringing in to help. Those cooling vests are suppose to help maintain a cooler core temperature for up to three hours so if you consider that 45 minutes to an hour is the max people can work there suited up, extending the effectiveness of their presence to 3 hours is actually a 300 percent increase in efficiency and safer conditions for the workers . I still have not seen anything on this happening and I can't imagine with the cost of sending and supporting staff there, let alone the risks of infection when staff make mistakes from fatigue ,why it is not a consideration they are making is sort of surprising to me . These should be supplied to the teams doing everything from burial teams to foreign doctors , infact all front line workers efficiency being improved 300 percent without even putting more people on that front line is significant . Thankfully the US military stepping will aid distribution of critical supplies and security that needs to be in place .
Thinking about this, I have been more conscious of how many times I touch my face in a day whilst doing tasks and I have worked geared up sweating in rain equipment breathing mask and goggles to spray whitewash on a greenhouse in summer heat. It becomes quite apparent how hard it is to not let goggles or a mask slip or to slip off ones gloves for a moment when your hands are sweaty; and it just isn't an option to take any chances when the outside of your gear can be contaminated . It must take a lot of self discipline to maintain those protocals . I think self discipline is one of the strongest traits to have developed in a crisis situation .
Maybe the big lesson here for myself is the decision making of people , their acts that work to end this and their acts that have spread it . We are seeing the complete gambit of what can go wrong in human behaviour. So far the virus has not yet mutated to become airborne, outside of the contagious factor of splattered fluid particulate. No one has said anything about what happens if the mutation is on the human side, that the virus meets a living host (outside of bats and such suspected carriers ) that can become a carrier longer term?
Article is a grim look at how it is standing at this point :
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ebola-may-be-endemic-in-people-20140922-story.html
"The virus could potentially infect 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of January, according to a statistical forecast by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Tuesday. That number came just hours after a report in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that the epidemic might never be fully controlled and that the virus could become endemic, crippling civic life in the affected countries and presenting an ongoing threat of spreading elsewhere."