In this Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 photo provided by attorney Steven Hyman, quarantined nurse Kaci Hickox meets with the prominent New York civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, seated, at the isolation tent at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., where Hickox was confined after flying into Newark Liberty International Airport following her work in West Africa caring for Ebola patients. Hickox, the first person forced into a mandatory quarantine in the state, was released Monday but has complained about her treatment. Following her release Siegal said "We are pleased that the state of New Jersey has decided to release Kaci. They had no justification to confine her," and added that she has not ruled out legal action. (AP Photo)
Shame on Gov. Christie
Granted, Dallas made some mistakes with Ebola. But there’s one thing we did not do. We did not stick our nurses in a tent without a flushable toilet.
Shame on Gov. Chris Christie and good for the nurse for showing her Texas spirit and speaking out!
Betty Boyd-Meis, Dallas
Protect community first
Ms. Hickox demonstrates a scenario where courageous choices have unexpected consequences.
Unfortunately, I believe the behavior of another, Dr. Craig Spencer, validates the need for a rigid quarantine. He violated self-imposed quarantine in a densely populated area and may have put many at risk for Ebola.
Rereading her account, I find it confusing that a doctor would diagnose by touch rather than by an instrument used to measure temperature. If Ms. Hickox’s face was flushed, might it not indicate she had a fever?
My mother shared her own stories about quarantine. During a scarlatina outbreak, health officials placed a sign on her door and neighbors left supplies for the duration of the quarantine.
Self-quarantine was expected during a mumps epidemic. Our entire family was confined to home. These diseases were mild compared to Ebola.
With any outbreak, I believe the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Community safety trumps the individual with something as deadly as Ebola.
Ms. Hickox’s bravery, sacrifice and dedication illustrate how one person can make a difference, but it doesn’t keep her from falling under the rules deemed necessary to protect the community.
Cynthia Stock, Garland
Intervention warranted
Pardon me for not sympathizing with Kaci Hickox on her interrogation and stern treatment by airport employees upon arrival back into the U.S. after having contact with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
I believe Hickox should take off her rose-colored glasses and step into the reality of the disease and its potential impact on our health care workers, as well as all American citizens.
She chose to go to Sierra Leone to help Ebola-stricken people. I commend her for that.
That said, I don’t think she has the right to complain about our government officials treating her as a potentially Ebola-infected person who may be bringing it into our country.
I believe she should have stopped whining and realized that Americans appreciate our officials screening people who are entering our country from Ebola-infected regions.
It’s not all about you, Ms. Hickox.
Lynne Harmon, Fort Worth
Look at bigger picture
As an alumna of the UTA nursing program, I retain a level of embarrassment due to the scattered thoughts of a fellow alumna, Kaci Hickox, R.N.
Ms. Hickox wrote of her perception that she was treated like a “criminal” on her return from a season of residency within the West African Ebola hot zone.
She decried a mandatory quarantine to assure the safety of her fellow Americans.
We cannot talk Ebola to death. It is a disease that must be quarantined and contained.
Only with the aforementioned will Ebola be conquered within the foreseeable future.
The states with quarantine policies will undoubtedly do better with their process in the near future. But I prefer a nascent process to no real intervention and public guardianship for the safety of American citizens.
Ms. Hickox may whine about human dignity and respect.
But those stricken with Ebola lose all human dignity as they vomit blood and excrete bloody stools whilst they lie awaiting death.
Ebola is a vicious and merciless disease.
Give it a break, Ms. Hickox. The story is bigger than your perceived slight.
Tammy Swofford, Irving