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:
Laboratory
The recommendation would be to clean and disinfect the instrumentation after each patient specimen.
The CDC does give recommendations on patient care management, however the ordering guidelines at your facility will be dependent on your care team and their protocols. Discuss with your care team the expectations for patient management in your facility. If blood cultures are expected, discuss with your lab and care team the risks involved in collection and how to safely mitigate those risks.
It is not required, however it is recommended to document every tube (including waste tubes) so that everything is accounted for and does not accidentally get mixed with other laboratory specimens.