38 years living "ultra" green- still going. How to. How not to. Why. Why not.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Listen to the Silence, too.
As part of our "how to understand the world" theme here; I'll point out that what the media is not saying is very often as significant as what they are.
I've been searching the web since last night; and cannot find any official news about the state of Dr. Craig Spencer, being treated for Ebola at Bellevue Hospital in NYC, that is more recent than 2 days ago. And only one other blogger who has also noticed. Not a peep from CNN or anyone else.
That's scaring me a bit. The entire world seems to be assuming that of course, he'll recover; since he's being treated in the USA, etc, etc. He did receive a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor; several days back; and that was about the end of the updates; that he was "tolerating" the transfusion well.
This is a young man who deserves to get well, and to be appreciated for his warm humanity. If he made any mistakes, it was the grave sin of believing what he was told by his superiors. "This is safe." they said.
I fear the social consequences too; if he does not recover- dies- the impact on our fear and chaos levels will be very large; and very little of that would be beneficial.
Listen for when the crickets quit.
this morning in the oregonian, there is an article about a liberian woman, who arrived on tuesday, who now appears to have ebola. of course everyone is safe, even tho she has been out and about for several days. and altho ebola can "only" be passed thru body fluids, the health care workers who came for her were in full haz mat gear. apparently portland had a plan for where and how to corral infected persons--in an outlying town, milwaukie, where an ebola training center had been established. slipped in near the end of the article was the line that there was another person being monitored for symptoms...
ReplyDeleteGoogled the name, clicked 'News' just now. First 2 hits:
ReplyDeleteNYC Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer is improving, hospital says
CBS News-6 hours ago
Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer upgraded to stable condition ...
Newsday-14 hours ago
Hank; yep, a few started showing up about hours after I made the post. Good. The updates are very very scant for the subject though; no "he's talking, aware, in good spirits, hates the jello, or anything. Earlier updates were far more chatty, came from the Mayor himself; etc.
ReplyDeleteJust seems too quiet, to me.
The caretakers in the hospital helping Dr. Spencer, are they in quarantine in the hospital when their shift is over, or do they go home to their families?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I ask, is about the nurse from Maine. She has no Ebola symptoms, so why all the fear to have her quarantined after she returned from helping Ebola patients in Africa?
Along the lines of what emmer mentioned above, my ICU nurse friend in Tucson says her hospital is still prepping for Ebola, is waiting on gear and has been asking for volunteers from her unit to be part of the Ebola team. Things might be quiet, but...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of silence:
ReplyDeletehttp://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2014/10/28/lawsuits-challenge-epas-approval-of-new-herbicide/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/nyregion/craig-spencer-new-york-doctor-with-ebola-will-leave-bellevue-hospital.html
ReplyDeleteSo, watching the Florida news off and on, how much does it take to conclude there's a contagious insanity spreading violence thereabouts?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nap.edu/booksearch.php?booksearch=1&record_id=18319&term=contagious&chapter=11-68
"Violence, including firearm-related violence, has been shown to be contagious. Recognizing this, the academic community has suggested that research examine violence much like is done for contagious diseases (IOM, 2013)."