FLORENCE, Ore. — A Florence couple who went through PeaceHealth’s Ebola readiness test says it was a misguided and traumatizing process.
June Parsell says she called 9-1-1 Thursday after her husband, Ray, was having a bad reaction to some medication he was taking because of a recent surgery.
“I looked at him and he didn’t feel well. Nothing, even water. He couldn’t keep in,” said June Parsell.
She says when emergency responders got to the door, she invited them in and they told her no because they had to ask her questions first.
“They said ‘have you been out of the country in the last couple of weeks?’ and I said ‘yes. I’m from England originally and we went back to my hometown for a vacation and we got back two weeks ago,” she said.
June says it didn’t take long after that for her to realize the paramedics asked because of concerns her husband had Ebola, but she says she explained he was just having a reaction to medication he was taking for a foot surgery he had just days before.
“He’s dehydrating. If I said that once, I don’t know how many times I told them,” said June.
She says even after explaining to the paramedics, they never came inside to see Ray.
“An hour and a half later, he was still in this house. They had never seen him. They would not come in. They were on the phone to agencies,” she said.
Eventually, Ray was transported to PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence. The Parsells say doctors checked his vitals, hydrated him, and released him that same night.
“Two hours probably? It didn’t take them long evaluate and to say ‘Whoa! We’re looking at the wrong thing here,” said Ray Parsell.
Now, the Parsells say they’re questioning the protocols and readiness of emergency responders in Lane County after what they call an unprepared response.
“They’re definitely not prepared. None of the agencies. There was no coordination between the agencies,” said June Parsell.
PeaceHealth Peace Harbor issued a statement the day after the situation saying:
“Western Lane alerted Peace Harbor’s ED and the Ebola response protocols were engaged. Caregivers donned PPE and immediately isolated the patient upon arrival. The staff was calm and professional. Further consultation with Lane County Public Health, determination that the international travel was not to west Africa and that there had been no known contact with an Ebola patient, helped us rule out Ebola as a potential diagnosis in this case. Lane County residents should be reassured that the system performed as expected, and the communication and cooperation reflected positively on the training and preparations we have made to respond to a potential Ebola patient.”
The Parsells say they want nothing more than for all agencies to re-evaluate their protocols and improve their communication before they do more harm than good.
“I do not want this to happen to anybody else and they have got to have facts over fear,” said June Parsell.
The Parsells say PeaceHealth told them there’s a meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the miscommunication, but the couple is confused as to why it wasn’t scheduled sooner.
They say they hope all agencies can use this situation to improve their protocols.