Mercy Ships

In a recent thread concerning Ebola patients being brought to the US, I posted my concern. It would seem some think that the only compassionate thing to do is to bring these patients to a highly populated area, Atlanta, Georgia. Emory University Hospital is associated with the CDC and is a top notch medical facility. I am sure they will receive excellent care. That being said, my concern is with the possibility of an accidental outbreak. I have no doubt that extreme caution will be taken but having worked in the health care field for 15 years, I know that accidents happen.

www.mercyships.org...

I am surprised that this solution is not being taken, or something similar. Portable facilities are feasible and much easier to deal with in the event of a need for quarantine. We have state of the art Medical ships available. Why are we risking the population unnecessarily?

a reply to: Khaleesi
One can only hope the precautions they are taking
would present no risk of an accidental outbreak &
justifies their actions.

Rebel 5

a reply to: Khaleesi

Except you'd pretty much be condemning the staff to death. Sure these ships are equipped to handle surgeries and what not. They are not equipped to handle infectious deadly diseases. They have no decontamination facilities on board. How do the staff dispose of their equipment after being in contact with the patients? How do you decontaminate the ship once its mission is done? Medical ships exist but none is equipped to handle a disease like Ebola.

I am also surprised this solution was not taken. Seems to be far more prudent than bringing a raging virus to a country where it doesn't exist. For what reason would anyone in their right mind do this?

I like the idea of mercy ships, but what says that an outbreak can occur on the ship? And if the ship manages to drift/crash ashore, what says that the virus can spread through rats or seagulls?

No offence to mod seagull

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
a reply to: Khaleesi

Except you'd pretty much be condemning the staff to death. Sure these ships are equipped to handle surgeries and what not. They are not equipped to handle infectious deadly diseases. They have no decontamination facilities on board. How do the staff dispose of their equipment after being in contact with the patients? How do you decontaminate the ship once its mission is done? Medical ships exist but none is equipped to handle a disease like Ebola.

As I have already posted on the other thread:

www.wbur.org...

But Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, says almost any American hospital is equipped to take care of an Ebola patient without endangering staff or the public.

If almost any hospital in the US is equipped then Medical ships can do it too. And yes they can decontaminate. What makes you think they can't?

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Maybe simply replicating what the land based hospitals do. A mercy ship would be a lot safer for the public, and really not that difficult to fit for such things.

a reply to: Khaleesi

If "almost any hospital in the US is equipped to handle Ebola" - then what's all the fuss about? Can't be such a big deal to bring our own home if that's true.

....I don't believe near everything I read, and certainly not such uninformed drivel (even though the mouthpiece is from Vanderbilt). Excalibur is right imho. Ebola is FAR too dangerous for a charity-run hospital ship.

a reply to: Khaleesi

So if Ebola can be dealt with at any hospital then there should be no problem with it being brought a state of the art research hospital with facilities designed to contain infectious diseases. I guess we're agreed then there's no issue with bringing these two patients to Emory.

Those ships sit in port and the staff are from military medical facilities. To be activated takes 5 days. They would then have to sail to that location. They are also more geared for mass casualties with large medical wards lacking isolation wards a traditional hospital would have. So they would take awhile to get there and they would not be equiped as well as a traditional hospital for this mission.

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
a reply to: Khaleesi

So if Ebola can be dealt with at any hospital then there should be no problem with it being brought a state of the art research hospital with facilities designed to contain infectious diseases. I guess we're agreed then there's no issue with bringing these two patients to Emory.

My concern is not about Emory's ability to contain this. My concern is about the panic in the general public and the resulting riots and martial law. It has already been pointed out on another thread that these patients are not really going to receive any more advanced care than they are already receiving. Advanced quarantine, yes but since they are already infected that is solely for the public's safety. The flight itself is dangerous for the patients. Apparently flying at altitude is a problem. I can not speak to that issue but if our sole purpose is to save them they would do better to drop more supplies.

originally posted by: MrSpad
Those ships sit in port and the staff are from military medical facilities. To be activated takes 5 days. They would then have to sail to that location. They are also more geared for mass casualties with large medical wards lacking isolation wards a traditional hospital would have. So they would take awhile to get there and they would not be equiped as well as a traditional hospital for this mission.

Time may be the biggest issue for them. As far as ability to quarantine them on a ship? They can easily set up portable quarantines with reverse isolation. They can put one of those on the plane to get them here, I think they can put several on a ship.