Botched U.S. Ebola response raises serious doubts for Canada's own preparedness

The threat of Ebola is becoming more relevant and more real to Canadians every day, and the latest news out of the United States has done nothing to ease tensions north of the border.

A confirmed case of Ebola in Texas has spread to two nurses and news emerged this week that one of them was cleared to fly between Cleveland and Dallas. Health officials have since apologized for misdiagnosing the original Ebola patient, and they are now tracking down other passengers on the nurse’s flight.

America’s struggle with diagnosing Ebola, keeping it quarantined and keeping frontline caregivers healthy – not to mention allowing an infected nurse to board a commercial aircraft – has given pause to the notion that North Americans have nothing to fear from a potential outbreak.

For months, Canadian health officials have preached calm, assuring the public that the threat was being taken seriously and that hospitals were prepared to handle any possible-yet-unlikely Ebola cases.

But as that fear ekes closer to reality, with news that Ebola has spread in Dallas and U.S. officials admitting they bungled the response, the first few seeds of doubt are beginning to find fertile soil.

CBC News reports that there have been 25 potential cases of Ebola studied at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in the months since the outbreak was first reported in West Africa. Every test has come back negative, most recently a member of the Canadian military who delivered medical supplies in Sierra Leone.

A University Health Network official previously told Yahoo Canada News that cases are tested out of an abundance of caution, yet the frequency of potential scares has shaken the foundation of the healthcare system: those frontline workers.

Alberta nurses recently admitted hospital staff members afraid and claim little is being done to address it.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions have also expressed their concerns, reaching out to the Ministry of Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada with fears of being under prepared.

In a letter to Health Minister Rona Ambrose, President Linda Sinas shared her doubts about Canada’s emergency response system.

"The SARS and H1N1 crises before Ebola brought forward still unresolved critical gaps in preparedness in Canada. Canadians and the global community are seized with this crisis," she wrote in a letter later made public.

"Before an actual case reaches Canada, we believe it is important that there be strong federal leadership working in collaboration with Canada’s health care professionals."

The nurses’ union believes that frontline workers – those most susceptible to the spread of Ebola – were not prepared for its arrival in Canada. The group says that frontline workers have been neither adequately trained nor tested on Ebola response, that the equipment they have is insufficient and that protocols are not in place.

"The concern nurses have in Canada is we feel we are not ready," Sinas told Global News. “Maybe on paper but we are not ready in practice. It is very important for nurses working in emergency or critical care … when it is 3 a.m. they need to know what to do when an Ebola patient walks in.”

The concerns expressed by the nurses’ union stem from the lack of field testing done on safety equipment and a lack of understanding as to how and where to treat potential Ebola cases.

"Imagine if a patient is not triaged immediately and waits in the waiting room for 20 minutes, 30 minutes or six hours, that has been heard of. What happens to the rest of the patients, what happens to the whole workforce? We have to make sure we have a triage system that is effective," Silas said.

On Thursday, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced it had met with provincial health officials to stay ahead of any potential Ebola crisis.

Ambrose said they have readied supplies and outbreak management experts and epidemiologists are ready to investigate and respond to all cases of suspected Ebola.

"The nurses and all frontline healthcare workers have our full support and I thank them for their dedication and commitment to protecting Canadians," Ambrose said. "It is imperative that all frontline healthcare workers have guidance and information to deal with Ebola. They are the first line of defence against infectious diseases and they must be fully included in all communications."

Dr. Michael Gardam, the University Health Network’s medical director of infection prevention and control, has told Yahoo Canada News that Canadian officials are being transparent about any possible threat, however unlikely, in order to give the public confidence in the healthcare system.

“There is a lot of real fear surrounding this virus. People get really upset really quickly. It all comes down to the likelihood of someone having it,” he said.

With assurances that threats inside the country are being addressed, the federal government has also moved to tighten border control. Last week, Ambrose announced that temperature screenings would be introduced at major airports to test passengers for flu-like symptoms common in Ebola patients. Quarantine protocols have also been executed at six airports across the country in case incoming passengers report feeling unwell.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has also noted that there are no direct flights between Canada and affected countries in West Africa. But with cases confirmed in America, Spain and elsewhere the threat of Ebola spreading to Canada is only beginning.

Is Canada actually ready and, just as importantly, are those tasked with keeping us healthy confident they can do the job?