The hospital I work for has received the alerts from the CDC regarding ebola, as all hospitals have. I don't see this as much of a cause for panic, I see it as a proactive heads-up for healthcare professionals to be aware of the possibility of patients infected with ebola to arrive in our ER's. Every hospital has (or should have) isolation protocols in place to deal with these events. Every hospital also has (or should have) isolation rooms to use for these patients, or access to portable isolation units to place in the rooms. We have had a good success rate in treating this virus in the US so far, and I hope to see this trend continue. We know how it spreads, we know how to contain it, and we know the treatment modalities.
Healthcare professionals keeping ebola in their differential diagnosis for individuals displaying similar signs and symptoms is just one of the reasons why first world medicine CAN contain this thing. It's a good thing we're keeping it on our radar. Not so much a cause for panic. A handful of localized incidents could be successfully contained. What makes me nervous is wide-spread infection leading to stretching of resources. That's when it starts to come unhinged.
Seeing the PAPR's hanging in their bags on the wall does make me pause every shift and think of the possibility's. I thought accidental needle-sticks were a nerve racking thought before all this...now it's pure pucker factor.
