Ebola Hits Home for Nurses, PAs in Congress
MedPage Today
October 15, 2014

As the CDC and other federal health agencies work to stop the transmission of the Ebola virus in the U.S., members of Congress are watching the situation with concern.

This is especially true of those on Capitol Hill who are themselves in the healthcare professions. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), a physician assistant, remembers walking around the emergency department in a "hazmat"-type suit during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

Bass and her colleagues are currently on recess until after the November elections.

"The suits you see people wearing [today] are similar to what we wore 30 years ago at the beginning of the disease," she told MedPage Today in a phone interview Wednesday. "Everybody was scared to death because we didn't know how it was transmitted."

Although the garments weren't as sophisticated back then, "the principle was still the same -- head covered, mouth covered, full gowns, full gloves, the whole 9 yards," continued Bass, whose communications director sat in on the phone call. "It was pretty miserable but I viewed it from a different vantage point; we didn't know how HIV was spreading, so doctors didn't want to take care of these patients, and they were treated terribly. I remember jumping in and taking care of patients because I felt so bad for how they were being treated and viewed."

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), a nurse, also remembers caring for AIDS patients early on, when many of them were put into isolation. "We had an isolation room in our ICU [intensive care unit], and we had the same nurses on different shifts taking care of these patients, to cut down the exposure to [other] patients and staff," she said. "That's probably something they will have to do" for Ebola patients as well, she added.

McCarthy said she would stay in the patient's room for about 7 hours of each 8-hour shift. "If there was anything I needed, another nurse would dress appropriately and then hand it in to me."

Nurses will also need frequent training on wearing personal protective equipment, she continued. "To really do the techniques you need for isolation, that has to be ongoing. It's not something you can do once a year and remember it."

McCarthy noted that during the 2001 anthrax scares, occurring shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, members of Congress were instructed on how to put on personal protective equipment. "If you ask me today, could I put this thing on? Definitely not."

Members also are concerned about the possibility of the disease being transmitted by those traveling into the U.S. from other countries. "As a wife, a nurse, a mother and member of Congress, I am deeply concerned with the current national screening process in place for international travelers entering into the U.S.," Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) said in an email to MedPage Today.

"To ensure that our country does not acquire any new cases of the virus, I believe Congress should enact travel restrictions from areas that have been affected by this contagious disease. It's important that we isolate and stop the spread of Ebola, and securing a travel restriction would be the first step."

Although McCarthy is concerned that the Ebola virus, which is currently spread only by contact with bodily fluids, may mutate into something that is transmitted through the air, she does not see restricting travel as the answer. "Shutting down the airports is not going to solve the problem," she said. "We're in a global world now."

As to how Congress can help, there is some agreement there. "Congress should provide funding to the National Institutes of Health, provide funding to CDC, and let those folks do what they need to do," Bass said.

McCarthy agreed. "Congress should get that money out there," not just at the federal level, but also let it filter down to the state and local levels to help provide training, she said.

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), a nurse, concurred as well. "There is so much that is still unknown about Ebola, and to hear that our nurses and medical professionals are not receiving proper training is scary," Black said in an email to MedPage Today. "Congress must do what is necessary to ensure that the medical community has the resources necessary to contain the spread of this dangerous virus."

And there's one thing Congress shouldn't be doing, according to Bass. "Where I'm going to worry is if Congress tries to micromanage this because it's a headline situation. That's where Congress can get in and make a mess."