Ebola Q&A for Health Care Workers
Participants on the “NETEC Town Hall: Preparing Frontline Healthcare Workers for Ebola” webinar submitted questions to our subject matter experts. Many of the questions were answered during the event, however the remaining questions have been answered by our experts below. While many answers are universal, some responses are based on the practices within a particular institution that supports NETEC. If you have additional questions, please contact our support services group by filling out this form.
Q&As:
Transport
Yes, EMS providers should follow the identify, isolate, and inform strategy and screen patients suspected of being infected with a special pathogen like Ebolavirus. See the EMS Infectious Disease Playbook for more information: https://repository.netecweb.org/items/show/16
Category:
Transport
Portable isolation units provide a level of barrier protection preferred by many personnel managing and transporting patients with high consequence infectious diseases. They are an alternative to using barrier drapes and other methods of source control.
Personnel planning to use a portable isolation unit should consider operating procedures for patient management and the unit’s cleaning and disinfection, or disposal. If the plan calls for disposal and the patient was infected with a special pathogen, like Ebola virus, it would need to be managed as Category A waste (HMR, 49 C.F.R., Parts 171-180).
In addition, in some cases, portable isolation units may not be tolerated well by patients due to the confines of the unit. Patient access is also curtailed potentially interfering with patient management.
Category:
Transport
Yes, you can find the EMS Infectious Disease Playbook here: https://repository.netecweb.org/exhibits/show/ebola2021/item/16
Category:
Transport