The second nurse infected with Ebola, Amber Vinson, was transferred from a hospital in Dallas to the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.[1] During the transfer, Vinson and those assisting her to the plane wore hazmat suits, and two wore respirators.[2] She was able to walk onto the plane with some help.[3] There was one man among the assistants who didn’t wear a hazmat suit – or any protective gear at all – while he watched Vinson get on to the plane. Afterwards, he handed workers a biohazard containment bag for Vinson’s contaminated sheets, which a hazmat suit-wearing man double bagged. No explanation has been given yet. NBC Dallas-Fort Worth has the video.
Vinson first reported a fever before her flight to Dallas from Cleveland on October 13.[4] Her transfer to Emory was yesterday, so she had only been showing symptoms for around 48 hours.
Update: The unprotected man on the tarmac during the Vinson transfer was supposed to be there, according to officials.[5] Vice president of Phoenix Air said that “part of our protocol is to have 1 person NOT in a bio-Hazard suit.”[6] The reason given is that the suits are hard to see in, so someone is there in street clothes to make sure that everything goes well. The same thing happened when NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo was transported to an ambulance after landing in Nebraska.[7]
It still looks a bit jarring to have someone unprotected amid suit-wearing workers. The CDC’s Interim Guidance for EMS Systems recommends that “EMS personnel involved in the air or ground interfacility transfer of patients . . . should wear recommended PPE.”[8]
If someone needs to be on the scene without protective gear in order to see clearly, the rest of the PPE should be worn to stay as close to CDC guidelines as possible. Since the CDC “doesn’t handle the transfer of patients,”[9] carriers like Vinson Air have the responsibility to transfer patients as safely as possible.
Second Update: An infectious disease specialist from NIH Bethesda spoke candidly about the Ebola situation and said that he was not at all worried about “ClipboardGuy.”
Sources below the cut.
[1] Meghan Keneally, ABC News, Second Nurse With Ebola Arrives at Emory; http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dallas-ebola-patient-transferred-emory/story?id=26212955
[2] Elvira Sakmari, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, Plainclothes Man at Ebola Scene Perplexes Viewers; http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Plain-Clothes-Man-Perplexes-Viewers-279357962.html
[3] Id.
[4] NBC News, Ebola Nurse Amber Vinson Checked with CDC Before Flight:Source; http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-nurse-amber-vinson-checked-cdc-flight-source-n226961
[5] Elvira Sakmari, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, Mystery Solved: Plainclothes Man at Ebola Scene Perplexes Viewers; http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Plain-Clothes-Man-Perplexes-Viewers-279357962.html
[6] Id.
[7] Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, Why wasn’t this person wearing protective gear during Ebola patient’s transfer?; http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/10/15/this-person-wasnt-wearing-protective-gear-during-ebola-patients-transfer/
[8] CDC, Interim Guidance for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems and 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for Management of Patients with Known or Suspected Ebola Virus Disease in the United States, October 1, 2014; http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/interim-guidance-emergency-medical-services-systems-911-public-safety-answering-points-management-patients-known-suspected-united-states.html
[9] Elahe Izadi, supra note 7.
