AUGUSTA, Maine - The president of the Maine State Nurses Association is challenging statements made by the LePage administration concerning the state's ability to confront Ebola cases in Maine. The Nurses Association says the state is not ready, a claim that was first advanced this week by one of Maine's gubernatorial candidates.
As president of the Maine State Nurses Association, Cokie Giles could scarcely believe her ears when she heard that Gov. Paul LePage had issued a statement declaring that the state is prepared to protect Mainers from Ebola.
"Through no fault of any facility, hospital or state, we are not ready for Ebola," Giles says.
Giles says that, in addition to federal CDC-recommended protocols that seem to be evolving, many Maine hospitals do not yet have the recommended resources needed to care for an Ebola patient.
"It is a lethal virus, and most of the hospitals - or maybe all of the hospitals - do not readily keep on hand many of the suggested resources that you need in order to protect the patient, yourself and the community against this virus," Giles says.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler was the first to raise concerns over the state's ability to respond to Ebola cases when he confronted Gov. Paul LePage on the issue during Wednesday night's gubernatorial debate.
"The real issue here is whether the state of Maine is prepared under the guidelines of the Homeland Security Department to deal with problems like this, whenever and wherever they occur - and according to the department, we're not ready," Cutler said.
In a written statement, LePage said the Maine Center for Disease Control and the Maine Emergency Management Agency will lead efforts to coordinate the state's response to any suspected cases of the disease. He denied Cutler's assertions that the state was not meeting those standards set forth by federal agencies.
"We are in complete contact with the federal government, MEMA and the CDC in Maine and the CDC at the federal level," LePage said.
Dr. Sheila Pinette, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, says her agency has elevated its monitoring of Ebola after a patient at a Texas hospital died from the disease, and two health care workers contracted it.
When asked how the agency would respond to Maine medical facilities that might have some concerns about dealing with multiple Ebola cases, Pinette said her staff is in communication with hospital officials.
"We need to build their confidence, we are communicating with them on a regular basis," Pinette said. "We've been sending out public health updates, educating them about signs and symptoms, how to diagnose Ebola and what the warning signs are."
To date in Maine, the only remotely-connected development concerning the disease took place at the Maine Medical Center, where a patient was held for 24-hour observation, per a CDC request. An array of tests proved negative for Ebola and the patient was discharged.
