Local hospitals prepared to handle Ebola cases
Local hospital officials say they implemented specific safety protocols and trained their employees to prepare for the highly unlikely event that a person infected with Ebola should seek treatment at one of their emergency rooms.
Dr. Andrew Sahud, who is Allegheny General Hospital’s director of Infection Control and Prevention, said they have a regimented checklist of screening questions for incoming patients – mainly whether they recently traveled to Africa – that can easily highlight any suspected cases, while also preventing hysteria attributed to false alarms.
“As long as we have this high index of suspicion and we screen every patient coming into the hospital and assess the travel component, then I’m not worried of Ebola,” Sahud said.
Sahud said Allegheny General and all of the community hospitals within the health system’s umbrella, including Canonsburg Hospital in North Strabane, have uniform procedures to handle any situation. He added they have specialized protective equipment for staff and quarantined rooms within the emergency room to hold patients who are thought to be infected.
He said the training and treatment plans they have been coordinating over the past few weeks are imperative for dealing with any potential situation. He added each hospital must plan accordingly with its staff and train them with the appropriate safety procedures. Sahud admitted that putting on hazmat suits is a complicated procedure, but is easier for the staff once workers learned how to do it.
“What’s incumbent on hospitals across the country … is that they have the system in place using the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines as their basis, but also have their own internal plan for what will happen,” Sahud said.
That was the case for Mon Valley Hospital in Carroll Township. Corinne Laboon, the hospital’s vice president of marketing and community relations, said they have laid out a “preparedness plan” and practiced for an emergency. Hospital officials also are meeting daily and participating in regular teleconference briefings with the CDC for updates on the situation.
“Our people are constantly ready and constantly going through drills,” Laboon said. “We are very confident with our protocols and systems in place. We are prepared to treat them.”
She reiterated Sahud’s comment about administering questions to each patient who comes to the emergency room. She added that there are signs posted in the waiting room asking whether people are exhibiting particular symptoms and have traveled to Africa within the past three weeks.
The death of Thomas Duncan while being treated for Ebola at a Dallas hospital earlier this month, and two of his nurses being infected by the disease while treating him, provoked unwarranted hysteria, Sahud said. The doctor’s calm demeanor in preparing for the virus is echoed by Gov. Tom Corbett and Pennsylvania Department of Health officials, both of whom said on Oct. 17 that they are working closely with health care providers and the federal government to ensure the situation remains under control.
“I want to assure all Pennsylvanians that the state has a coordinated and thorough approach underway to ensure we are prepared and ready to deploy our public health resources in the event of suspected or confirmed cases appearing in the commonwealth,” Corbett said.
Sahud said by next week, his hospital system plans to use an infrared thermometer to detect a fever on all patients coming into the emergency room before asking them pertinent questions about symptoms and international travel.
“If there is a positive response, then we will the institute our procedures,” Sahud said. “We’re trying to nip this in the bud prior to someone even walking into the emergency room.”