Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. The news out of Dallas isn’t good as a second person that had treated Mr. Duncan in the hospital has been diagnosed with Ebola. This is the second health professional, and the CYA mode at the hospital is palpable.

They’re trying to blame the CDC for mixed signals. But it appears that the hospital didn’t have the appropriate biohazard gear, and that protocols weren’t followed.

There are no unions at this particular hospital protecting nurses’ rights, so those nurses are talking anonymously to officials of a union that represents nurses - and the story is one that everyone should take heed - especially those who are anti-union and GOPers (but I repeat myself).

National Nurses United, in a conference call with reporters Tuesday, said that several nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian complained of confusion in the days after an Ebola patient was diagnosed there, putting nurses at risk, and that there was little training.

“There was no advance preparedness on what to do with the patient, there was no protocol, there was no system,” the group said in a statement.

The group said it was speaking on behalf of several nurses who work at the hospital and told it their stories, but who are not members of the union. When asked several time for those nurses’ identities, the group declined out of fear those nurses would be retaliated against.

Nurses are the ones who are going to know if the procedures aren’t sufficient since they’re the ones who are doing the most intimate of care (whether it’s feeding, robing/disrobing, helping the patient go to the bathroom, or cleaning a patient if they soil themselves). If they’re saying that things aren’t right, listen to them.

They’re also pointing out that the facility used the pneumatic tube system for his samples, which has potential to spread through the system.

The nurses alleged that:

— Duncan was kept in a non-isolated area of the emergency department for several hours, potentially exposing up to seven other patients to Ebola;

— Patients who may have been exposed to Duncan were kept in isolation only for a day before being moved to areas where there were other patients;

— Nurses treating Duncan were also caring for other patients in the hospital;

— Preparation for Ebola at the hospital amounted to little more than an optional seminar for staff;

— In the face of constantly shifting guidelines, nurses were allowed to follow whichever ones they chose.

The hospital officials also apparently ignored requests by staff to put Duncan in isolation immediately - potentially exposing more people to the disease. That compares with the claim that they isolated the latest patient in 90 minutes.

The new case suggests measures at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas were unable to prevent the virus from spreading beyond a very sick Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian who died there last week.

The worker developed a fever on Tuesday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told a news conference.

“Within 90 minutes of taking her temperature she was isolated in the hospital,” Jenkins said early Wednesday. “And we hope and pray that, like Nina, she will get on a good track.” Over the weekend 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham was diagnosed with the virus.

Jenkins described the latest health care worker to test positive as “a heroic person, a person who is dedicating her life to serving others.”

The hospital has been fighting allegations by some staff and by an outside nurses union that it didn’t do enough to protect workers. It’s also been fighting off criticism that Duncan, who has died, was mistakenly sent away when he first sought care. He later became very ill and was returned to the hospital by ambulance.

It’s becoming abundantly clear that the hospital screwed up on its handling of Duncan at pretty much every step of the process.

They didn’t have the proper gear on hand, so the nurses used what they had available.

This disease has wrecked the health care systems in West Africa because it hits those who come into direct contact with the victims hardest (health care workers, caregivers, and even the burial details). The