A nurse from the hospital that mishandled the treatment of now-deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan criticized her healthcare facility Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“I can no longer defend my hospital,” Brianna Aguirre, a Texas Health Presbyterian worker who saw Duncan brought in for the second time, said. The video is posted above.
Aguirre was also a member of the team that tried to treat fellow nurse Nina Pham, who was infected with Ebola after working on saving Duncan.
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Speaking to Matt Lauer via Skype — for precautionary reasons — Aguirre said her hospital botched basic medical care.
“I believe that they should have known that they were not handling this well, this Ebola crisis, they should have known that it was getting out of hand, that they should have called in more help … I watched them violate basic principles of nursing care.”
After Lauer noted the hospital acknowledged it allowed nurses in contact with an Ebola patient to go to different rooms without disinfecting themselves, Aguirre said: “I’m embarrassed for my hospital that they would even say that.”
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Duncan contracted the virus in Liberia weeks ago after assisting a pregnant woman stricken with Ebola. He then traveled to the U.S., where he developed a fever upon arriving.
At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Duncan was sent home despite having high fever and telling doctors he was recently in Liberia. Only after his family contacted the Center for Disease Control was he hospitalized. He died last week.