Amber Vinson, a Texas nurse who contracted Ebola after treating an infected patient, speaks to the media on Oct. 28 during a press conference after being released from care at Emory University Hospital. (Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
Dallas nurse Amber Vinson says she felt “terrible” that people criticized her decision to fly on an airplane with what turned out to be the early symptoms of Ebola.
“Because that’s not me, I’m not careless. I’m not reckless. I’m an ICU nurse,” Vinson told Matt Lauer in an interview set to air Thursday on NBC’s Today show. “I embrace protocol and guidelines and structure because in my day-to-day nursing it is a matter of life and death.
“And I respect that. I would never go outside guidelines or boundaries or something directly from the CDC telling me that I can’t go, that I can’t fly,” she said.
Vinson said she had been in contact with members of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services once fellow Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas nurse Nina Pham was diagnosed with Ebola. They gave her a list of symptoms to watch for and numbers to call if she showed any, she said.
Before leaving Cleveland on a Frontier Airlines flight, Vinson said she called officials.
“Because I was so afraid of what could potentially happen I did ask them ‘Is there anything you guys can do to send for me? Do I need to leave earlier?’ Because I was worried,” she said.
Vinson was ultimately cleared to fly because her temperature was below 100.4 degrees. Dozens of people on the flight were later placed on an Ebola watchlist.
Vinson and Pham were treated at hospitals out of state but have been declared Ebola-free and have returned to Dallas. Vinson is moving into a new apartment shortly, KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported Wednesday. Her mother and fiance have been cleared from the Ebola watch-list.