The first Ebola victim to be brought to the United States from Africa arrived in Atlantic for treatment on Saturday. According to the mainstream media and CDC our country’s top medical professionals say they are confident the deadly virus won't escape, but I still did not sleep well last night. After all, we have been told “things were under control” before.
I have said this countless times and will say it again; I am not one to panic when I see headlines like “Ebola will come to U.S.”, but I am not stupid either. Could it happen? Absolutely. Do I think this country is ready for an outbreak like what is featured in the movie “Contagion”? Heck no.
According to some media I watched and read yesterday, we should all b, Doctors are weighing in, conspiracy theorists have already started speculating how Ebola will get Obama his third term… as for me, I just want to be informed. And ready.
The truth is that I have a better chance of getting West Nile virus here in the States than Ebola. I do not live in Africa nor have I associated or even been close to folks from that part of the world. While the outbreak is out of control now across the ocean, the reality is that Ebola is pretty hard to get; you don’t just stand next to someone sneezing and have to go in for testing. You really have to have contact with someone and that contact really has to involve bodily fluids.
Now I am not downplaying how serious this is, but why panic when you can just understand? The World Health Organization has not put the United States on the list of countries that need to be concerned just yet and this is for a good reason. With strong health care capabilities and the best of the best writing plans and mitigating disasters across the country, we are in pretty good shape. I think we need to have a little more faith in our emergency management and health care authorities.
Now, with all that said, there are some issues I should bring up that become OUR responsibility…
This month hundreds of teens are coming back from missions trips, many from the same regions of the world where this outbreak has begun. These young people will be heading to school (mostly colleges) within two weeks, just one week shy of the 3 week incubation period for Ebola. Add to this the professionals, military and tourists that frequent these areas of the globe where Ebola is springing up… I have been in and out of airports all week and watched them land and get into cabs that spread their presence (and what else?) around the country.
Here’s my point. While I have great faith in our system and I am proud to be a part of it, I also know that the American public needs to be forever vigilant and prepared. Emergency management is not a job, a title or a profession. It is a responsibility that each of us has to take on each day.
As things develop around the world, rather than be raptured up into the panic and hype, let’s try to become better informed, a little more careful and just a tad bit smarter. In the weeks and months to follow, watch each other in your home, change travel plans if you can, stay on top of your personal health and make sure you have a plan that can be activated at a personal level if ever the national plan does.
Is there a threat? Yep, you bet. Am I writing this from my underground bunker? Nope.
