zydeco

Texas Ebola patient dies...

Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person in the U.S. to die from the Ebola virus.

The Texas Department of State Health Services released the following statement:

The past week has been an enormous test of our health system, but for one family it has been far more personal. Today they lost a dear member of their family. They have our sincere condolences, and we are keeping them in our thoughts. The doctors, nurses and staff at Presbyterian provided excellent and compassionate care, but Ebola is a disease that attacks the body in many ways. We'll continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect people from this threat.

"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m. Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle. Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also grieving his passing. We have offered the family our support and condolences at this difficult time,"

http://www.19actionnews.com/story/26735800/tx-ebola-patient-dies

Posted: Oct 08, 2014 10:24 PM

No sympathy for this worthless man. Frankly, I'm relieved he is gone and the chances for further infection thus reduced. How many millions of taxpayer dollars went to support this foreign interloper who caused such havoc. This statement from Presbyterian Hospital is PC mush. Now, what the US should do--but will never do--is round up the rest of this man's troupe of low end parasites and send them back to Africa, too.

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If anyone damaged the university's reputation it was him.

In your dreams.

At least Thailand now has someone in charge who knows more about medicine than ear medicine,

eg PTP past health minister - no health experince

Chalerm Yubamrung

Chalerm graduated from the Royal Thai Police Academy. He reached the rank of police captain, before he resigned his commission to go into private business. He later received a doctorate degree in Law from the open admission Ramkhamhaeng University.

And he has a great family

All three of Chalerm's sons have reputations for roughneck mafia-like behavior. In 2001, his youngest son, Duangchaleum, was arraigned for the murder of a police officer. Right after the incident, Duangchaleum received shelter from a Thai general. The son then deserted the Army and fled to Cambodia, then to Malaysia. After a few months of staying in touch with his father, the son was assured it was safe to return to Thailand, and not face dire consequences. Chalerm senior met his son in Singapore and escorted him safely to Thailand. He was released from jail on bail terms in 2003, and finally acquitted as the court considered the evidence insufficient - even though there were many eye-witnesses to the crime

I think this guy is a better Minister

Rajata Rajatanavin

Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin, MD was appointed President of Mahidol University in December 2011. Previous to this position, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. He continues to teach at the Hospital as a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology. Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Mahidol University, and obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Faculty of Medicine in Ramathibodi Hospital in 1975. He holds a Certificate of Fellowship Training in Endocrinology and Metabolism from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a Diplomate from the Thai Board of Internal Medicine. Along with serving as a member of several medical societies and associations in both Thailand and the United States, Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin has also been awarded scholarship grants including Best Alumni in 1997 from his alma mater. He has written over 160 publications in English and in Thai

As a lecturer at Mahidol - I can assure you that almost all of the university personnel are happy to see this man leave. He has done nothing during his 3 year tenure except take credit for the projects initiated by his predecessor, while slowing to a crawl virtually all forward momentum the university had built. He was already going to be removed next year when his first term expired, and he knew that already. He then tried to hang on to both positions - a clear and blatant conflict of interest. Being in charge of all public hospitals in Thailand and also president of the largest medical school and directly in change of 5 university hospitals at the same time. The term conflict of interest was invented to define that situation.

His "balancing of both jobs" as he tried? He showed up for work at Mahidol a grand total of 3 half days during the past month. Obviously an untenable situation. Instead of bowing out gracefully - he fought tooth and nail to to try to keep both - and won the enmity of most faculty and staff at the university. Good riddance to him - we are looking forward to a new era here.

The University Council of Mahidol has 30 members - 15 internal and 15 external. At the vote last month to resolve the situation - all 15 of the internal members, representing all faculty, staff and admin, voted that he had to choose 1 or the other. The other external members? Well, only 7 even showed up to the meeting (the way to avoid uncomfortable situations in Thailand), and only 4 voted for him. Hardly a vote of confidence. Mahidol is an autonomous university - the university council is the final authority over the school - they spoke loud and clear - take your waffling ethics and hit the road.

In all fairness, he has done one thing. He has had all those cardboard pictures of himself holding a motorcycle helmet put up all over the Salaya campus.

But I thought the new job was only until the end of next year so hardly a wise move?

But then perhaps he knows something?

He was NOT going to be given a second term as MU president. And he knew it.

i never have any problem with taxi in bangkok, i took taxi alot off times, 95% off the taxis i take use the meter, only place i have trouble with taxi was in kuala lumpur where they neve never never use the meter, they will rip you off. Bangkok taxi is good.

In KL you are supposed to negotiate the price with taxi drivers BEFORE you get in the cab.

Sunday at mbk they refused to pick up people unless they pay a flat rate. They wanted 200 baht for a trip that cost me 68 baht. To hell given them a raise. It seems to be getting worst and worst. Even when they get a pay rate they will continue doing the same crap.

Hey Mango, those central Bangkok taxi drivers are pro Red Shirt. Your people. Just trying to get a fair share like YL promised them. You should be happy.

There is going to be a "special" official meter rate for Farangs. Just watch.

I'm getting where I can't trust any of these officials. Frieden, the CDC head man was being interviewed by Anderson Cooper. Cooper asked him about the woman in the Ebola apartment, was she in danger after living with the Ebola man's sheets, pillows, eating utensils and other items until she bagged the items herself? The response? Frieden simply ignored the question and said once items are bagged, people should be safe. The same thing went on during the earlier press conference. When asked about banning flights and or people FROM West Africa, Frieden said it was impractical and counterproductive because it would keep supplies and aid workers from going INTO West Africa. And saying it all with that stupid smirk on his face.

There is a fruit vendor I've been buying from for years here.

He was busier than usual but I got in line.

A group of Thais came up and got in front of me, I sincerely think I was literally invisible to this group.

I wasn't going to fight but the vendor didn't react either (I might have made an issue of it if I thought he cared as he's the boss there).

From a business POV, weird, as I just walked away ... not worth the wait.

These things happen here, and yes of course it is a kind of racism. You can't fight it, you can't change the "culture" here on how so many Thais view (or don't view) foreigners. Either accept it as part of the deal of living here or make yourself crazy about it.

Oh well!

I think Asians tend to swarm rather than wait in lines. This used to occur to me even more back in the US. Whenever a large group of Asians were in my local Kroger's, they would often push and swarm to the front of, say, the discount milk (odd, as I thought Asians tended towards lactose intolerance). My reaction, then, was to just walk away and wait for the swarm to move off. Honestly, it happens a lot less in Thailand than it did with Vietnamese back in Texas.

Vietnamese archaeologists have announced the discovery of ancient Vietnamese artifacts in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Recent excavations in the archipelago -- Spratly Island, Namyit Island, Pearson Reef, and Sand Cay -- in June yielded Vietnamese pottery shards that dated back to between the 13th and 19th centuries, archaeologists said.

Bui Van Liem, deputy director of the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, said: “The results of the June explorations strengthened those of our explorations in Truong Sa in 1993, 1994, and 1999. They prove that Vietnamese people operated in the archipelago in the past.”

“The artifacts contribute to support Vietnam’s assertion of sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago,” said Liem.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/ancient-vietnamese-artifacts-found-in-spratlys-31580.html

Biden is a moron, I doubt he could point to Syria on a map.

If Biden is a moron, what do you call Sarah Palin?

I don't know. Does Sarah Palin plagiarize her speeches from British politicians?

The Benny Hill of USA.

More like the Neil Kinnock of the USA.

The Vietnamese are not a known enemy....they are an old enemy, but then so are the British.

Selling weapons to Vietnam to protect the South China Sea is a good move and should give China pause to think about it's expansionist agenda.

I tend to disagree.

PI and Japan are closer allies to the US than VN. Japan and PI are also at odds with China over territorial waters.

If push comes to shove and war breaks out, the US will side with Taiwan, PI, and Japan.

VN, however, is closer to China diplomatically and geographically. If push came to shove, who do you think VN would side with?

And then, how do you think those "lethal defenses" would be deployed? A very simple deal with China for their sea territory claims would cement their allegiance.

China is Vietnam's traditional, long term enemy. The US and Vietnam have a strategic common interest. It doesn't matter what government is in power. This reconciliation between the US and Vietnam was inevitable. Had the US displayed enough sense to side with the Vietnamese against the French in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a US-Vietnam alliance would be today right behind that with the Philippines and Japan. Vietnam is much more important to the US, for example, than is Thailand.

JDGRUEN:

- An idiot local low level judge is photographed taking is assistants into the apartment - to serve orders I suppose. Done totally unprotected.

The low level "judge" was Clay Jenkins, a Democratic member of the Dallas County Commissioner's Court. As such, he's essentially just another politician primarily involved in zoning issues, road and bridge construction, board memberships, and other bribery prone matters.. He gained notoriety recently for singlehandedly offering to house mexican minors throughout Dallas County--until the uproar from the citizens caused the plan to fold. Jenkins' best buddy on the Commissioners Court is John Wiley Price, who has just been arrested by the FBI for fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.

standards slipping even more

Dallas Paramedic: We Weren’t Contacted After Working in Ebola Exposed Ambulance

A Dallas paramedic claimed he drove the ambulance that the US Ebola patient was transported in and that he was not contacted by anyone about the potential exposure. Aklinski said he was going to a doctor on his own initiative to be tested for the Ebola virus. “This is definitely a concern and exposed workers have not been contacted or tested… like me,” he explained. “I had to call into control in Dallas at 8 pm and complain to get evaluated.”

“Three days after the fact,” an exasperated Aklinski stated, “I had to demand exposure testing and they are reporting following up with all the people in the ambulance??? Bull crap!!! They haven’t even followed up with the ten firefighters that were on duty Sunday.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/10/2/Dallas-Paramedic-We-Werent-Contacted-After-Working-in-Ebola-Exposed-Ambulance

I keep seeing more links and reports in this thread outlining the catastrophe building in Dallas than I see in The Dallas Morning News. In fact, the Morning News, the local paper, is playing down just about everything. Something is really rotten when stories like the one above are buried and ignored, especially by the local media in Dallas.

So bad. I would sue the hospital . . . even if nothing more than emotional distress if I or a family member was in contact with that African infected dude after he first presented to the hospital.

I can guarantee you now every hospital will be over cautious now as they now they will get popped for liability if they fail to diagnose and release someone with Ebola.

Obviously the medical staff at Presbyterian Hospital do not pay attention to the news of the last three months. Seems they never heard or saw any headline about Ebola surging in West African countries ... because no one noticed this man with varying kinds of symptoms was from a West African country ... The doctor and no one else went - Hmmmmm? We need to look further into this... Get blood samples immediately and everyone begin now to take precautions. Put him in isolation until we get some blood results... Stupid uninformed medical staff with NO PLAN ... NO EDUCATION about a very serious epidemic in Africa... crazy stupid.

Actually, the triage nurse did ask and mark in his chart that hex was from Africe and an Ebola impacted region. The ER staff treating him apparently missed it, but they did have a checklist and protocol in place to detect Ebola patients. They screwed up which I kind of get. They have a lot of volume and I doubt they actually expected an Ebola patient to walk through the door.

" doubt they actually expected an Ebola patient to walk through the door." That is exactly what my post is about ... Glad to hear one nurse picked up on it ... but with a highly publicized Ebola news story for months in the newspapers, on Cable TV, on Facebook and all the other social media, and on line news... one would think the whole staff would know and 'GET IT'. But sad to say - as an American and a Texas it is expected that even educated people in Dallas Texas pay little or no attention to such things. Most of them could not find Africa on a globe and probably think Africa is one big country ... "West Africa... Ebola ? Is that something like Ebonics ? I am quite serious I lived in the immediate area for 35 years... If it is not home, momma, kids, Friday night football, soap operas, back yard BBQ it doesn't exist.... I bet they are aware NOW!

I have actually used this hospital and its sister hospital, Presby Plano, quite frequently. Before she died, my 83 year old mother was in and out of Presbyterian frequently for kidney dialysis related treatment. One time I took her in and she was experiencing extreme difficulty breathing. The ER at Presby took her temp and let her sit for an hour. I finally told them to stuff it, walked out the door and took her up to a hospital in Denton where they immediately diagnosed bronchitis, treated her and had her stable in about 90 minutes. Ignoring an 83 year old dialysis patient who was having trouble breathing. THAT is the quality of care you get at this hospital's ER. Somebody should be raked over hot coals for this latest screw up. All this bragging about how prepared the medical system is to deal with ebola or any other pandemic is just propaganda. It will not take much for everything to seize up and collapse. It all began when this latest guy got a visa, got into the country, then entered the medical system, which incompetently sat on its rear and watched a crisis development. Now, watch the taxpayers' money just fly out the window. I would hate to see the US become a dumping ground for every African who thinks they have ebola and who can hop a plane and deposit themselves at the nearest ER in America.

I believe that article says '...won't prompt travel restrictions -- yet'.

That was in the headline. In the body of the article, this is what was said:

"At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest declined to say what would prompt the president to order travel restrictions.

“We live in a global world, and what we’re confident that we can do is to both protect the safety of the traveling public and protect the broader American public,” he said.

If it's getting this bad then maybe it's about time to close some boarders with the exception of tracked med staff. Regular visitors coming and going is wrong at this point in time.

The US apparently refuses to even consider the idea. Better that Americans die than Africans be inconvenienced at the airport. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20141002-ebola-case-in-dallas-wont-prompt-travel-restrictions--yet.ece

This guys medical bills will quickly exceed $1 million and it will all fall back on the taxpayer.

Why was he issued a Visa?

Because some government bureaucrat didn't want to be called a racist??? Better to start a pandemic in America than be called a racist.

This is very serious. Who will be impacted... to start with, the people he came into contact with at the Airport terminal in Liberia who travelled to every part of the world; passengers and crew on his flight; if he had a layover, everybody who he came into contact with at that airport and who continued their travels elsewhere; the airport in Dallas and passengers on their way to other places and the continued domino effect.

This is more than serious...

When I read the article about a Thai hospital finding the Cure for Ebola, I laughed and joked as well...if there's any truth to it, and I hope there is, as it will surely be needed now.

The lack of responses to this thread suggests quite how serious it is.

Normalcy bias.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias

Most of the ebola threads are left relatively empty. This situation is just building beneath the surface, waiting to erupt. This illness is being treated politically, rather than medically. The flight the infected man came in on is being kept secret (none of our business, says the CDC), as is the man's identity, immigration status, and who he visited. All based on "medical privacy." And absolutely no moves to cancel US visas for people from infected nations traveling to the US. I would expect strict visa limitations at the least--if not outright bans. This situation would never have occurred had this preventative measure been in place.

Unbelievable incompetence on the part of the medical staff in Dallas. The infected man apparently visited a medical facility on 24 September with fever and flu like symptoms. But was not isolated until his visit on 28 September. He is said not to be an American but somebody "visiting" family/friends from Liberia living in the US. And it took two visits before anyone asked if this guy was coming from an ebola infected hot zone? Nobody bothered to ask where he was from? Best guess is he doesn't have an American insurance carrier or medicaid. Oh, well. At least the hospital staff will not be accused of being racist. Yes, they may have helped jump start an ebola wave in the US, but they are not racists. How nice.

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/dallas-presbyterian-prepared-to-care-for-ebola-patient-hospital-continuing-normal-operations.html/

Now that several posters have seen fit to make comparison to the Nuremburg laws, might it be time to look at this a little more calmly. Is a tourist ID band at a resort/hotel such a bad idea?

I read on TV several times per year the stories of entire Euro-families getting themselves lost in the jungle, when they wander off the beaten path.

What is wrong with an ID band that helps those Euros who don't have enough sense to realize the hazards of getting lost in the jungle?

Some Thai finds them and can read where they are staying and get them back. If somebody wants to inflict harm, wristband or no will not make a difference.

This isn't entirely the goofy idea it's being made out to be. Nature is pretty tame in Europe and a lot of people have no idea what they are wandering into.

And Hua Hin is to be developed into some sort of muslim tourism destination? Separate from the Russians and Germans and British at Pattaya?

This is beginning to sound a bit like the yellow badges marking the Jews in pre-war Germany! Any 'mark' or 'brand' would only have a detrimental effect. Officials, more thinking before publishing should be the order of the day!

And perhaps a little more thinking before comparing the proposal to Auschwitz.