Fear Is Enemy in Ebola Scare, Officials Say

By LOVASHNI KHALIKAPRASAD, STEPHANIE LOVELLE & MEGAN MESSANA

We have little to fear but fear itself.

That was the message delivered on Tuesday to local health care workers at an Ebola prevention summit at the Javits Center in Manhattan by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Cuomo and others.

“Keep the anxiety down, keep the fear down, because it’s unnecessary,” Cuomo said to the healthcare workers including doctors, nurses, EMT workers, security guards and janitors. He added,  “It’s not right and it only makes the situation more complex for all of us to deal with.”

The governor reassured everyone that hospitals were prepared to understand and conquer the virus. He said when there is a challenge no one steps up like New Yorkers do.

De Blasio echoed the sentiment, adding, “If God forbid, we do have a patient with Ebola there are clear protocols.”

As part of the training session the workers were told how to recognize the symptoms of Ebola and ways of preventing it.  Also, the workers were shown a stage demonstration of how to put on the layers of protective gears and how to take them off. The demonstration could be found online on 1199 S.E.I.U website and followed the new tighter protocols set by the Center for Disease Control on Monday.

“It doesn’t matter what your academics pedigree is or how long your title is, when you’re taking care of a highly infectious disease, it is scary,” said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director for Healthcare Associated Infection Prevention Programs.

So far, there have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in New York City. Only three people in Dallas – a West African visitor and two nurses who helped treat him – have tested positive for the virus.  The nurses were undergoing treatment in Atlanta.

“Thank God, they are getting better,” said De Blasio. “They are getting better and that’s a powerful thing.”

“We have learned from what went wrong in Texas,” said Domingo Faulkner, a nurse who works for Visiting nurses Service of NY, which is stationed in each borough. Faulkner is stationed in Manhattan. He said that there were missteps in Dallas, but that would not happen in New York.

“This city as you heard before, has been preparing and drilling for weeks and weeks,” De Blasio added.

The training session was hosted by a number of health organizations including, 1199 S.E.I.U, National partnership for Quality and Healthcare Education Project and the CDC.

 

 

 

Photo credit: Creative Commons