Preparation and Readiness for Ebola Virus Disease Because of the recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, there is an increased risk of individuals traveling from affected countries to the U.S. and subsequently seeking health care in American hospitals and clinics. Ebola virus may cause very severe illness which often results in death. Health care workers must use utmost cautions in treating patients suspected or confirmed with EVD, and a health care facility must be mindful to ensure the safety of its patients and staff. Experts expect additional travel-associated cases in the U.S. Even though we believe the risk for seeing a patient with Ebola virus in northeast Kansas is very low, Nemaha Valley Community Hospital has taken the Ebola threat very seriously. An Ebola Preparedness Task Force has been activated to address the readiness of NVCH’s Ebola response. NVCH has implemented an enhanced screening process in our Emergency Department. Emergency Department patients are being screened for recent travel to areas where Ebola virus transmission has been reported. We also have added signage in our Emergency Department, asking patients and visitors to notify staff if they have traveled to areas where Ebola virus transmission has been reported. Plans for similar screening process in non-acute areas are being implemented this week. In the event that a patient or visitor were to be identified as high risk, staff would place the high risk individual in the highest level of isolation available, implement standard contact and droplet precautions. If there is someone in the community that has traveled to the West Africa area, and has any symptoms they are to call the hospital for instructions first, and then to the Emergency Room. Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) have a specialist on call 24-hours per day and will be available to assist our staff. We are working to communicate these plans with all staff this week. We will conduct refresher training on use of personal protective equipment in the very near future. We are taking this concern seriously, we want to make absolutely sure our staff is prepared to handle a high risk Ebola patient event.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:41:37 +0000