In a nationwide conference call this afternoon, the US Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response issued guidelines for physicians and other health care providers who work in clinics and private offices on how to screen and care for a patient who shows up with potential Ebola Disease Virus (EDV) and how to protect their office staff.
The officials recommended that the one-page Ebola screening criteria be posted so anyone charged with evaluating patients either on the phone or in person may easily access it. They also directed the professional association leaders, hospital administrators and other frontline caregivers who were on the call to a document titled: “Ebola Preparedness Considerations for Outpatient/Ambulatory Care Settings.” They encouraged wide dissemination of this information, and said that new Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for caregivers would be released tomorrow. The links to all the necessary websites with the more updated information are included on the above documents.
Earlier in the day, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services also conducted a conference call with medical and nursing stakeholders throughout the state to update everyone on the state’s response and preparations in the event a case of Ebola is detected in North Carolina. The state’s epidemiologist Dr. Megan Davies said that a video showing the proper procedures for safely isolating a patient suspected of having Ebola is planned. For the latest North Carolina specific information, a website has been created.
Other useful resources include:
The CDC’s Health Care Provider Checklist for Ebola
The US Department of Health and Human Services Open Letter to Health Care Professionals
Emory University Hospital’s Medical Director of the Serious Communicable Disease Unit, Bruce S. Ribner, who in a 5-minute video discusses the lessons learned from treating the Ebola patients who recently were brought to Emory University.
The North Carolina Medical Society is participating in all conference calls with state and federal agencies about Ebola preparedness and will pass along all new information to our members via email and our website and our social media channels.
Keep in mind what Dr. Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response told the group this afternoon: Currently, “the epidemic of fear is much greater than the actual cases” of Ebola in the United States.
