joining me now, charles hadlock in dallas. charles, what more do we know about duncan's nephew's call to the cdc. >> reporter: hi, richard, good morning. excuse the noise here this morning. the nephew of the patient in north carolina contacted the cdc and the cdc told him to contact texas health department. he spoke with several people there, he says, and we reached out to both agencies but have not heard back a comment from them on this particular situation. but it comes on the heels of news that the patient showed up here on friday and told people that he was from west africa, and that he was complaining of symptoms, but somehow that information did not get passed along to doctors on friday. we now know he was admitted sunday and diagnosed on tuesday. richard? >> charles, we have been talking about school officials there, have some concern. what are they telling you about what the process is and what's going on? >> reporter: so this patient has family here in dallas and was staying with them. those people have five children.

we are joined boy charles hadlock who is following the patient in dallas. what can you tell us about what authorities are doing there? >> the hospital issued a statement in the last hour or so saying that the patient remains in serious condition here. he is being treated in isolation and full measures are taken to protect not only the patients here, but the visitor who is come to the hospital. the state department of health said as many as 100 people may have come in contact with this patient since he arrived in dallas more than a week ago. that number could dwindle as they learn what type of contact this man had. because they were in the same room doesn't mean they were exposed. his family is being isolated. four members of his family have been told by the state to remain in their house and to is self monitor and take their temperature frequently and report changes this that. they admonished the family for allowing visitors to come into the home even after this incident began last sunday when he was admitted to the hospital after being taken away by parame

you also have that gap charles hadlock talked about.ymptomatic at first but that question of where he had been, where he had just come from, didn't seem to register with health care workers. is the real risk of ebola the human error risk, that people won't track a patient properly? >> i've been talking about this since -- this ebola outbreak. we have to make sure we don't use that old adage we learned in medical school. the old adage is, when you hear hoof beats behind me, think horses not zebras because common things are common and uncommon things are uncommon. my health care cokacare compadr there, i'm asking you to look at the uncommon thing. we're living in the land of zebras. you have to ask questions you don't normally ask. the great nurse in dallas that documented that fact did not let the doctor know that that patient had been to africa. we could have stopped this long before the patient actually had symptoms, so that's the big deal. >> let's put up -- can we put the clarnd back up? we have the calendar of the timeline of when t

. >> nbc's charles hadlock joins us. what can you tell us, sir? >> reporter: as you mentioned, as many as 80 people may have come into contact with the patient here during the time he was in dallas. the health department says they've tracked down most, but not all of those 80 people to try to determine what kind of contact they had with him. they still believe that only 18, that's one-eight, 18 people had close contact with him during the time he was showing symptoms. that includes the family members and the paramedics who are in quarantine for the next 21 days. as you mentioned, the family had been ordered. four members of the family had been ordered to remain in their homes for the next 21 days. it's been learned by state officials that the family had guests into their house during this time. and they've been warned not to do that again, to keep people out of their house and to self-monitor. their children, who have been taken out of schools, have been taken out as an abundance of caution. nobody else is showing symptoms. the school symptom says

charles hadlock in dallas. interim secret service director joseph clancy takes over the job.sten welker said president obama himself recommended clancy for the job strongly supported by michelle obama. the white house official said the president and the first lady know and have a great deal of confidence in joe chancey and agreed he would be an excellent choice. he led the protective detail for two years. the ranking member of the oversight committee. thank you very much. >> good to be with you. >> this has been an extraordinary couple of days on this story. you have written a letter to secretary jay johnson about what you want to see in the review panel. talk about that. >> i wanted the review panel to be ex-personnel. in other word external. it me in needs to be people from the outside. i wanted to look at culture and personnel issues and look at management and how did we get to a point where we have nafsnafusd problems. i want them to return to the reputation we all thought to be the most prestigious elite protective agency in the world. >> you met with julia pierson hours

nbc's charles hadlock is outside the ivy departments in dallas.he cdc told andrea mitchell there's no excuse for leaving the family inside with the waste while awaiting federal transportation permits. what are conditions like inside this apartment? >> reporter: a lot of people are wondering the same thing. why it took five days from the time they knew that this ebola patient was staying at this apartment unit until today when hazmat crews show up to clean it. they said it was paperwork jish. they had to get proper federal and state permits. nevertheless, the clean-up is under way right now. a private company is inside that apartment unit scrubbing it down, decontaminating everything this man may have touched and way all the sheets and towels and maybe, perhaps, the carpet that was in this place that the man walked on. five people, four people still in the apartment complex, family members of this man. they have been in essence quarantined by the state. they've been told not to accept visitors and not to leave. late today we understand that they wi

joining me now, charles hadlock in dallas.what more do we know about duncan's nephew's call to the cdc. >> reporter: hi, richard, good morning. excuse the noise here thi

nbc's charles hadlock is outside presbyterian hospital in dallas. this hospital ran an ebola drill earlier last month. we know that. how prepared are they to handle this patient now? >> well, they are prepared. they had that drill last week. they went through everything. they practiced what would happen if a patient came into this hospital. went through the gowns, the gloves, the goggles, the shoes, everything they need to handle a patient that would come into a place like this. so what happened last friday when this patient showed up with some symptoms. he had fever, abdominal pain. the admitting nurse went through a checklist. he said he was from africa. that information was written down and passed along. for some reason the attending physicians did not have that information had they actually saw the patient last friday. they gave him some antibiotics and sent him on his way. on sunday, emergency calls were made to dallas ambulance paramedics. they were sent to a house about ten minutes from this hospital. when they arrived they immediately knew t

soil is extremely unlikely, and charles hadlock is in dallas for us. what more can you tell us about the revelation from the hospital after standing by the original claim there was a computer glitch. >> reporter: yeah, they said it was a computer flaw that the doctors and nurses use, and it was a communication problem where the nurses took down the information that they took down that he had travelled from africa, and then there was a statement that there was no flaw in the software programs, and the patient's full travel history was available to both the doctors and the nurses at the same time, and there was no further explanation about why that was not used in the diagnosis on friday a week ago, alex. >> it seems impossible that nurses and doctors wouldn't verbally communicate this kind of information -- >> yeah, absolutely. the whole thing has been difficult from the start. where is the family right now? >> reporter: they have been moved out of their apartment. yesterday a professional cleaning crew, a hazmat crew came into clean the apartment, and

. >> charles hadlock, thank you for following that story for us. all of this as the pentagon announces its new plan to send up to 3600 troops to help fight this outbreak in west africa. 600 more than previously announced. they will step into a hot spot that experts caution is not airborne and not easy to contract. the new diagnosis of the cameraman is raising new difficult questions about just how transmissible it actually is. we talked with his parents and asked them how they thought their son might have come into contact with the virus. >> there was one point where he was helping some folks spray down and disinfect a car. he wasn't wearing full protective equipment and thinkses he might have gotten a splash on his body. he thinks it was that, but he had so much different contact. he was in the clinics filming a lot and he was careful and trying to be cautious with wearing protective equipment, but he doesn't remember exactly when it was. >> that's the 50 time we publicly have heard a theory on how he may have contracted ebola. he fell ill 72 hour

. >> charles hadlock joining me now. what do we know when the man came to u.s., when he came to dallas, and when he developed symptoms. >> he's at the hospital being treated for ebola. here is what we know about the man his time line. he left liberia september 19th. he arrived in the u.s. on september 20th. ended up in dallas. and last wednesday began showing symptoms. on the 26th, last friday, he came here to the hospital for treatment. doctors saw him, they prescribed some antibiotics and sent him back to his family here in dallas. and on sunday paramedics were called to the family's home about 10 minutes from the hospital. when paramedics arrived on sunday they immediately recognize that the patient has all the symptoms of ebola. he traveled to africa. they put two and two together and launched their protocol to handle the patient of the time. they brought him back to the hospital on sunday. tests were done and came back positive yesterday from the cdc in atlanta. the question is how many people did he come in contact

nbc's charles hadlock is joining me now with the latest on that case in dallas. charles, what more do we know about his treatment and how he's doing today? >> the latest condition update came yesterday on thomas eric duncan. the hospital says he's in critical but stable condition. the family met with doctors yesterday. they were told that thomas' blood pressure is normal. his temperature is down. and that his liver function has improved slightly. however, he remains on a ventilator. he is on dialysis and is receiving that experimental drug. they say he has not yet turned a corner. the family says it was able to view thomas on a video screen on monday. but yesterday, they chose not to. his mother says it was just too painful to watch. meanwhile, last night, the family joined faculty and staff here at the hospital for a prayer vigil led by the reverend jesse jackson who is advocating for the family. the family says even though there were misstarts in his care, they believe thomas is getting the best care possible now. the 48 people being monitored who came in direct

let me go to charles hadlock in the dallas area now. he's at the hospital and standing by. sly, charles, the focus is on the missteps, if there were. it seems to be in great concern regarding that. but also, the people who came in direct contact with mr. duncan. and what their status is right now and all the people have been located. what can you tell us? >> all the people have been located. in fact the health officials have narrowed that list down to 48. 10 of them came in direct contact with mr. duncan. that include the doctors and paramedics and family. another 38 others came in contact with those ten. they are all being monitored. according to the health official the we spoke with, they're not showing any symptoms at all of ebola. in fact, all of them are very healthy and well this morning. >>> at this point, they will remain in quarantine. is it through october 19th or are we certain that given the developments with him and some have already expressed concern over the time line of the symptoms when he was contagious. will they be released at this time? >> they should be

nbc's charles hadlock joins me live outside the hospital in dallas. and charles, are the immediate family members the only ones being quarantined right now? >> reporter: they are the only ones ordered by the state into quarantine. now, the firefighter paramedics have been voluntarily quarantined in their homes. there are three of those gentlemen. also, the doctors and nurses at the hospital have been told to monitor themselves. the state says about 12 to 18 people came into contact with this man between the time he was showing symptoms and the seem he was admitted. where does the 100 number come from? it's concentric circles of the people he came into contact with, the paramedics, the family members, doctors and nurses at the hospital, and the people they came in contact with before this man was diagnosed with ebola. they are being told to monitor themselves and the state says even though the list is at 100 right now, it will actually probably come down as they clear that list of people who really didn't come in contact with this man at all. they're ju

. >> charles hadlock, thank you for your time. a fund has been set up by eric duncan's family to help him with the medical bills. >>> we go to new orleans and bring in ceo of community health and assistant professor at lsu health sciences center in tulain university. what is your reaction? >> i've said this for awhile now. the whole concept of the ebola outbreak is square on the shoulders of the first responders in america and the er staff and the primary care physicians and nurses. because you cannot treat something that you do not know. and that is the reality. this happens all the time in hospitals because it's information. when information that is not being disseminated appropriately. this is a systems issue. this is not an ebola issue. because, you know, these things happen every day. >> and, i mean, does this kind of thing happen where, you know, we heard from charles and, you know, the nurses knew one thing and didn't communicate to the doctors? is that something that, you know, could happen in places all around the country

charles hadlock, appreciate it. >>> cindy is director of texas nurses association. thank you for being here. >> thank you for being here. there was a statement issued by the texas nurses association that essentially said when something is missed or goes wrong, we need to ask why and how. blaming individuals is counterproductive. worse, it can distract from the central question of highway can we prevent this from happening again. wouldn't the simple answer to that be, to have the nurse's system she inputs information in connect to the doctor's system? why didn't that happen? >> my understanding it was a system design issue, even both both parties, both team members are following protocol, the way the system was designed they didn't communicate in that manner where the information the nurse entered was available to the physician when he was making his or her clinical diagnosis. that is a risk of electronic medical system. there are nurse informatacist and are aware of systems in documentation. >> this is not a documentation issue. in a case where a patient is presenti

charles hadlock joins us now.tory from the hospital here about how this guy was initially released. do we know what the truth is? >> still raises a lot more questions, steve. earlier the hospital had said that there was a flaw in the system that the nurse's software was slightly different than the doctor's software and the two didn't communicate the fact that the patient had been to west africa as the nurse had written down. they said that the doctors never saw that because of the software flaw. late last night the hospital issued a two paragraph clarification basically saying there was no flaw in the software, that the doctors and nurses have the same information about the patient's travel information. there is no word about why that connection wasn't made to perhaps hospitalize and isolate the patient two days earlier than he initially was on sunday. >> and the other issue, charles, is this patient's family living in the area and apparently it wasn't until yesterday that hazard crew came to begin cleanup at this

charles hadlock joins us with the latest.hat can you tell us about the latest information from the hospital where dun kan is being treated? >> well, good morning. the hospital said earlier in the week the reason the doctors and nurses let this patient go last friday when he came into the hospital, even though he said he was from west africa is because the software problem in the hospital's intake system. they said the nurses and doctors used separate different systems and they didn't communicate well with each other. ch last night the hospital put out a statement saying there was no flaw in the software. the doctors and nurses had the same information about eric duncan's travel history. why it wasn't taken into account, we don't know. >> charles, what can you tell us about the family staying in that dallas apartment with duncan? is. >> duncan was staying with family and friends in an apartment about a mile from the hospital. he was taken out of the house on sunday, a week ago. the family staid for another four or five days un