WATERTOWN — The threat of Ebola in Northern New York is real, but local hospital staff members are prepared to respond.
People have become worried after the recent outbreak in West Africa, a few confirmed cases in the nation, and a potential case across the border in Canada. However, Ebola, a “rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola (five) virus strains,” has been around since the mid 1970s, and was first discovered near the Ebola River, in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Local health care facilities treat Ebola as they do other infectious diseases — that they can occur at any time, anywhere — and know that they must be prepared to handle cases that walk through their doors.
“We have to screen everyone now,” said Kimberly S. Couch, intake patient care assistant in Samaritan Medical Center’s emergency department.
As part of the intake process, all Samaritan patients are asked if they have been to Africa in the past 21 days. If they say yes, and experience symptoms of Ebola — fever of 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, muscle pain, and vomiting, among other symptoms — a nurse is called and precautionary measures follow.
“We know what to do if and when it happens,” Mrs. Couch said.
Michelle K. Michael-Korn, director of nursing for emergency services, said she thinks “anyone would be nervous” handling someone suspected of having Ebola, but they are to be treated like any other patient.
“The patient still needs to be treated,” she said. “Patients are coming in, and not making fun of it, but saying ‘I don’t have Ebola.’”
She compared current Ebola concerns in the nation to the 1980s when people feared coming into contact with people who had AIDS because they were not educated about it. As with AIDS, people cannot get Ebola from being in the same room as someone who has the disease. Bodily fluids must be exchanged.
Local hospitals have practiced Ebola drills, following measures already in place for other infectious diseases. Full protective gear, from head to toe, is worn to ideally eliminate exposure from an infected, or potentially infected, patient.
Dr. Alfredo Torres, director of inpatient care at River Hospital, Alexandria Bay, said increased education about Ebola, including infection, transmission, and contamination are reviewed frequently as the threat looms.
“I’ve talked with a lot of staff who want to know (more),” he said. “There’s a lot of misinformation; the number one thing is that it’ll never come here and we’ll never deal with it. We do — we’re a stone’s throw away from the border where people travel from all over.”
Belleville General Hospital, Ontario, Canada, awaits test results from a patient, who had traveled through West Africa and fell ill, to see if he or she has Ebola, according to CBC News. The Canadian media outlet also reported that the case was low-risk, but the patient is being kept in isolation until blood test results come back. A patient in Ottawa thought to have Ebola does not, CBC News reported, as test results were negative.
From Alexandria Bay, just across the St. Lawrence River, into Canada, both Belleville and Ottawa are about 1.5 hours away. Many Canadians travel to the U.S. during holidays, and frequent north country malls, stores and restaurants.
Because of the Ebola threat, Dr. Torres said all staff are being trained on how to handle potential cases.
“We’re teaching our registration staff to be on high alert,” he said. “Even if you’re following exactly what (the CDC) tells you to do for proper removal (of protective wear), it really doesn’t take too much deviation to expose someone.”
That is what is suspected happened in Dallas, Texas, where a nurse caring for an Ebola patient contracted the virus. The patient she was caring for has since died of the disease.
“To be exposed means to come in contact with someone’s secretions or bodily fluids: for example, if someone were to vomit on you,” Dr. Torres said. “(Transmission) is strictly by contact. You have to touch a person’s secretions. If someone with Ebola were to sneeze and it got in my mouth I’d be concerned.” Protective gear includes face shields, but hospital workers only put them on when a case is suspected. Mrs. Couch has no glass window separating her from patients when she takes them through the intake process.
Both River and Samaritan hospitals have conducted drills, reviewed drill reports, and have kept updated on the latest information from the CDC and World Health Organization. The goal, hospital representatives said, is to always be prepared.
“It’s so out there in the news because it has a high mortality rate,” said Karen A. Abare, registered nurse and Samaritan’s infection preventionist. “As we progress through this and get the public educated, it’ll probably quiet down.”
How the situation unfolds in Dallas could either escalate or deflate people’s Ebola fears, she said.
There are no Ebola cases in Jefferson, Lewis or St. Lawrence counties, or elsewhere in the state.
According to the World Health Organization, the following are key facts people should know about Ebola: the virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and then spread through the human population; the fatality rate is around 50 percent; community engagement can help control outbreaks; early supportive care improves survival; there is no licensed treatment, and there are no licensed Ebola vaccines.