Proper full-head hoods used when treating a suspected case of the deadly Ebola virus started arriving yesterday morning as nurses were ordered by their union to shun the new high-risk unit.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses issued directives late on Thursday ordering members to stay away from the Infectious Disease Unit because of lack of proper full-head hoods. The first batch of 27 full-head hoods was delivered by courier to Mater Dei Hospital yesterday with a larger batch of 100 expected to arrive in the next few days.
Ebola has so far killed thousands of people. It spread through various African countries and has now reached Europe too.
Last week, a patient was admitted to the new unit on suspicion that he had been infected. Tests later showed he had malaria not Ebola.
The MUMN said the nurses treating the patient did not have the proper full-head hoods used in hospitals abroad when treating suspected Ebola cases.
Following this case, Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne held a post-mortem meeting to set up a working group to see where operations could improve. This was held on Tuesday and it was established that when treating the first suspected case of Ebola, the staff wearing the headgear experienced “some issues”.
A spokeswoman for the secretariat said that although the headgear had been procured in line with the World Health Organisation’s best practices, it was decided to follow the working group’s recommendations and procure alternative headgear.
However, the MUMN felt the directives should still stand until the hoods arrived. In a letter to members, it said that without the proper headgear the nurses had had to find a mask to fit their face and were told to close the gaps with tape. The letter was also sent to Mr Fearne.
“I have given instructions for the procurement of protective hoods to be given urgent priority, even [getting them] by DHL,” Mr Fearne told MUMN president, Paul Pace, in an e-mail yesterday morning. In fact, the hoods were already arriving at the hospital by the morning.
Mr Fearne asked Mr Pace to lift the directives.
However, when contacted, while appreciating the quick reaction, Mr Pace said the directive would only be lifted once all the hoods had arrived.
He said that although 27 had been received, these were taken to the casualty unit, with none being taken to the Infectious Disease Unit. Moreover, he said, the quantity of hoods and that of blowers, which provided fresh oxygen to the disposable hood, did not match so not all hoods could be used.
The secretariat spokeswoman said more blowers were expected to be delivered in the coming days.
In his letter to MUMN members, Mr Pace said assurances given to workers that Mater Dei was equipped and prepared to treat Ebola patients was “far from the truth”.
“Mater Dei Hospital is not prepared to take in Ebola patients,” he told members, adding the union “will not allow any nurse to die in his or her line of duty”.
“Unless full-head hoods are made available, no nurse is to enter any room where suspected Ebola cases are placed. Moreover, no nurse is to place tape on their face,” Mr Pace said.
He said the union also expected disciplinary action to be taken against the person/s responsible for the procurement of such hoods that never materialised.