Texas Health Presbyterian nurse: 'We never talked about Ebola'

She describes 'chaotic scene' at Dallas hospital after Liberian man's diagnosis.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Briana Aguirre says staffers never discussed Ebola before Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man infected with the deadly virus, was admitted.

“We never talked about Ebola, and we probably should have,” Aguirre said on NBC's "Today" show on Thursday. "We never had a discussion. They gave us an optional seminar to go to. Just informational, not hands-on. It wasn’t even suggested we go. ... We were never told what to look for.”

Aguirre's colleagues Nina Pham and Amber Joy Vinson — two nurses who were among 76 hospital workers who treated Duncan before his death — were diagnosed with Ebola. Vinson was transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Wednesday night; Pham was expected to be flown transported to the National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland, hospital officials said Thursday.

When Duncan was diagnosed with the virus, which has a 70 percent mortality rate, Aguirre said there was confusion about how to handle the case. “It was just a little chaotic scene," she said. "Our infectious disease department was contacted to ask, 'What is our protocol?' And [the] answer was, 'We don’t know. We’re going to have to call you back.'"

On Tuesday, National Nurses United said several nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian complained of similar confusion.

"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.

[Related: Who's who in the U.S. Ebola scare]

During a House oversight panel hearing Thursday afternoon, Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Presbyterian parent Texas Health Resources, admitted that had been no hands-on Ebola training for staff before Duncan was admitted. When asked if staffers had received person-to-person training on how to combat Ebola prior to Duncan's arrival, Varga said "no."

Aguirre, who did not treat Duncan, also said she treated Pham after her diagnosis and was shocked that the protective gear provided by the hospital left her neck partly exposed.

“I’ll be honest, I threw a fit," Aguirre said. "In the second week of an Ebola crisis at my hospital, the only gear they were offering us at that time, and up until that time, is gear that is allowing our necks to be uncovered?

"Why would I be wearing three pairs of gloves, three pairs of booties, a plastic suit covering my entire body and then leave my neck hanging out this much so that something can potentially go close to my mouth or nose?” she continued.

Late Wednesday, Varga issued an apology for his facility’s “mistakes” in handling the highly contagious disease.

“Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes,” Varga said in a statement delivered to the panel. “We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry.”

Varga said the hospital followed all federal and state guidelines to protect staff and others from Duncan, who died Oct. 8 after 10 days in isolation.

“It’s clear there was an exposure somewhere, sometime,” the statement continued. “We are poring over records and observations, and doing all we can to find the answers.”

Varga added that Texas Health Presbyterian had already instituted a number of fixes, including an Ebola “refresher course” for emergency department staffers.

On Thursday, Aguirre said she would advise anyone seeking medical treatment not to go to the hospital.

"I would try anything and everything to refuse to go there to be treated," she said. "I would feel at risk by going there. If I don’t actually have Ebola, I may contract it there. That is how I actually feel, and I would do anything to refuse to go there." LINK & FULL INTERVIEW - MORE DETAILS