The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. was initially turned away from a hospital in part because a “flaw” prevented doctors from learning he had traveled to Africa.
P Photo/The Dallas Morning News, G.J. McCarthy
Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola on Sept. 29 at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Soon after the diagnosis, Duncan's sister revealed that he had previously gone to the hospital with symptoms of Ebola and told medical staff he was from Liberia, but was sent home.
Duncan later returned to the hospital after his condition worsened, but not before he had vomited outside his apartment.
Thursday, Texas Presbyterian Hospital explained in a statement the process by which Duncan's Ebola diagnosis was initially missed.
When Duncan arrived at the hospital he told nurses he had been to Africa, and that information was noted in his electronic file.
But according to the hospital, patients' records are divided into two sections — one filled out by nurses and another filled out by physicians — and they don't necessarily interact. The hospital claims that both nurses and physicians did their jobs correctly, but the portion of Duncan's records that mentioned Africa wouldn't automatically show up in the doctors' portion of the records.
The hospital says that it has changed its electronic record system to fix this flaw.
Police enforce a quarantine on the apartments where Duncan stayed last week.
AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Nathan Hunsinger
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1xIvY6k
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