Area health workers prepare for Ebola

As of Wednesday afternoon, the average American was more than 1,500 times more likely to die of the flu than to die of the Ebola virus.

Although an Ebola case in Southeast Missouri is unlikely, local emergency responders and medical professionals said they are preparing for the possibility.

"We are not simply ignoring that," said Mark Hasheider, Cape Girardeau's assistant fire chief and emergency management coordinator. "... The possibility is very small. It really is. But on the other hand, I believe our area does need to be knowledgeable about how to protect themselves."

As flu season begins, emergency responders likely will encounter patients with symptoms consistent with Ebola, Hasheider said.

"We may be asking them, 'Have you traveled? Have you been in contact with (someone who has been exposed to Ebola)?' And we rely on that patient to tell us the truth, if ... they have or have not," he said.

Protocols

Saint Francis Medical Center has developed a plan to care for Ebola patients while limiting exposure and transmission of the disease, said Gayla Tripp, infection prevention nurse at the hospital.

"A small group of specially trained staff would be assigned to the patient to limit unnecessary exposure," Tripp said in a written response to questions from the Southeast Missourian. "This core group would provide all care. Our focus will be on limiting exposure and transmission. ... Infected patients will be allowed no visitors during their stay."

Tripp said emergency room personnel now ask patients about their travel history during check-in.

That information helps staff determine appropriate treatment.

A patient with a high fever who had just returned from a trip to Liberia, for instance, would be treated as an Ebola patient until proven otherwise, Tripp said.

"With those symptoms and travel history, a patient would be treated as if he or she was infected with Ebola. This includes immediately implementing Ebola infection prevention measures," she said.

The patient would remain in isolation until testing ruled out an Ebola diagnosis, she said, and hospital personnel treating the patient would wear protective gear and take special precautions in disposing of infectious fluids and solid waste.

Should the patient die, the hospital would work with public health authorities to determine how to dispose of the body, Tripp said.

The patient's family also would be monitored for symptoms, said Jane Wernsman, executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center.

"I don't know that they're implementing any quarantines at this moment, although restricting movement is not a bad idea," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Authorities in Dallas quarantined several members of Thomas Eric Duncan's family after he became the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

When Duncan died Oct. 8, his body was cremated.

Under guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola victims' bodies should be either cremated or buried in a hermetically sealed casket to reduce the risk of exposing others to the virus.

Information about SoutheastHEALTH's Ebola treatment protocols was not available Wednesday. In an email to the Southeast Missourian, a hospital spokesman said no one was available to comment on the issue Wednesday.

Wernsman said both of Cape Girardeau's hospitals, the fire department, ambulance service workers and other emergency responders recently underwent training on handling infectious diseases such as Ebola.

"Both hospitals have practiced receiving a patient with that potential diagnosis," she said. "We did a drill ... so it's not like we're on page one. ... At this point, I think we are beyond just the basic awareness level at our health-care facilities."

Bigger risks

Hasheider, Tripp and Wernsman all emphasized that while Ebola may seem scary, with its dramatic symptoms and high mortality rate, a more common illness poses a greater risk to the public in Southeast Missouri.

"In a bigger picture, Ebola does have some very unique characteristics, ... one of them being the critical or the deadly outcome it could have; however, we have other flus that can give us more problems and cause us more deaths," Hasheider said.

Tripp urged people to get flu shots.

"The CDC estimates a low of 3,000 to a high of 49,000 deaths in the United States are due to influenza each year, depending on the severity of the virus," she wrote. "Everyone age 6 months and older should get a flu shot!"

If there is a silver lining in the Ebola scare, Wernsman said, it is that people skittish about catching the virus are likely to practice better hygiene and to seek medical attention earlier if they develop flulike symptoms -- which could reduce the number of flu-related deaths this winter.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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