Regardless of your opinions on the Ebola crisis..... As for me, my opinions may or may not be yours... You see, when I became a health care provider.... I was made very aware of the inherent risks, I knew that there is always the risk of serious injury or even death as a first responder....It was disclosed that pts may carry infectious diseases and that there is always a possibility of a accidental exposure... I wear gloves on every pt contact, I clean the stretcher after every call, the back of my truck is cleaned .. I use soap, hand sanitizes, wear gowns, masks , goggles etc.... Regularly to not only protect myself and family, pt also each and every pt I may come in contact with.... Ive received every inoculation made available to me ....Is this enough???? I pray it is.. You see Aids, Hepatitis, H1N1, the flu, meningitis.... Etc are infectious diseases that have been killing people for years...... Im a wife and Im a mother.... The fear of bringing home something like this to my family is of great concern.... Exspecially since I have a child with a compromised immune system due to her heart defects.... Today I was asked point blank if I was on the Ambulance and had a known or highly suspected pt present if I would treat them or refuse to provide pt care due to the scene being unsafe??? Valid question....., my response was this: You see there are the 2 nurses in Dallas with Ebola, hopefully the numbers of those infected will not grow!!! I dont know these two ladies, so it would be pretty easy to simply state the risk far outweighs the benefit to me!!! But I doubt that would be my response... You see I bet those ladies are somebody elses children, friend, aunt etc... They have those that love and care about them. Its easy to harshly say (No.... Its not my problem) However what happens if this does spread ?? What If the pt is someone we know??? What if its your husband, wife, mother or father??? What if its your child???? Does that change your opinion on who does or does not deserve care?? So My answer was yes, Id treat them, despite the potential risks ( risks present every day regardless of Ebola) Im going to as safe as possible do everything in my power to provide the best care possible..... You see we dont always get to pick and choose who is spared or who lives or dies .... But we can choose to do the job we are trained to do!!! Is this scary ??? Hell yes....... But fear should never prevent you from doing the right thing!!!! I became a health care provider to do just that... Provide health care.... Not to pick and choose who is or is not deserving of it!!!!! Ill leave that up to God......
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:39:08 +0000