The Huffington Post reported “Back in August, it only took Mount Sinai Hospital workers in New York seven minutes to isolate and start treating a man who they suspected of having Ebola. Other U.S. hospitals have also speedily screened and tested suspected Ebola patients, all without incident.
The contrast between those other hospitals’ responses and the actions of workers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, who recently mistook a Liberian man’s symptoms for a common illness and didn’t properly communicate his travel history to other colleagues, can be explained with training and drills, explained Dr. Brian Koll, the executive director of infection prevention for Mount Sinai Health System.
“We first started preparing quite a while ago, when small pox was a concern, then we had the anthrax attacks in New York City, and then most recently for H1N1, MERS, bird flu and for SARS,” said Koll in a phone interview with the Huffington Post. “This is really just part and parcel of infectious diseases — once someone has a fever and had traveled to an endemic area, automatically our protocols for isolation and treatment begins.”
Koll suggested that educational efforts and drills for everyone — not just healthcare providers — who worked in the hospital could create the conditions for immediate isolation and treatment. For instance, Mount Sinai officials met with the hospital’s engineers, receptionists, security guards, transportation staffers and environmental services in addition to healthcare workers in order to prepare for a potential Ebola patient.
“I would strongly encourage meeting with everybody who is in the facility, from leadership all the way down to frontline staff,” advised Koll. “You don’t know who is going to come into contact with a patient.”
Click here to read the full Huffington Post article “How Hospitals Should Prepare For A Potential Ebola Patient” by Anna Almendrala.
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Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H., is Clinical Professor, Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and Adjunct Professor, Baruch College ( C.U.N.Y.), Rutgers School of Public Health, and Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration.
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