STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- In a matter of days, they transformed from caretakers into patients.

The two women live thousands of miles apart, but the first known Ebola cases contracted outside Africa during this outbreak have one striking similarity: Both were health care workers, caring for someone infected with the deadly virus.

As a nurse in Dallas and a nurse's assistant in Madrid fight for their lives, a key question looms: Are people who are putting themselves in harm's way to care for Ebola victims receiving the training and equipment they need?

No, says Zenei Cortez, vice president of National Nurses United.

"It's really a disaster waiting to happen," she told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Thursday.

The union is pushing for more equipment, training and education for nurses, Cortez said. A survey of 1,900 nurses by the union found that 76% said their hospital had not communicated any policy for the potential admission of patients infected by Ebola.

It's a "startling statistic," CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said, particularly since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in May that it was distributing guidelines to hospitals around the country.

"Infectious disease protocols, universal precautions should be the same, really, in hospitals all over the country. They should apply here with regard to Ebola as well," Gupta said. "But obviously, that's not happening. These nurses who are a part of that survey just don't feel comfortable as things stand now."

CDC chief blames protocol breach

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Are health care workers prepared?