Planning and response to Ebola virus disease: An integrated approach

Current Capabilities and Capacity of Ebola Treatment Centers in the United States

“…Multilevel, interprofessional collaboration to isolate HID cases and reduce disease transmission will be crucial to contain future outbreaks. 7,25 Although the current capacity of ETCs in the United States is adequate to manage and treat the few sporadic cases of EVD that occur or are treated domestically, future HID pandemics or larger domestic outbreaks warrant surge capacity owing to the low number of patients who can be treated simultaneously in the existing facilities. Finally, although ETCs have acquired specialized capabilities and infrastructure to successfully treat and manage EVD, whether or not these units can be adapted for other HIDs is unknown and should be explored.…”

“…Expectations for staff include low turnover rates, regularly scheduled drill exercises for staff to maintain competency in infection control procedures, and a leadership system based on the incident command model. 2,7,14 Despite efforts to designate specific team roles and minimize the number of staff in direct contact with the patient and/or infectious secretions, large numbers of staff are needed to care for an individual patient. Furthermore, owing to the intensity of treatment for EVD and the extended use of personal a Some can be used simultaneously.…”

“…15 Because staff participation in ETCs is voluntary, scheduling and backfill issues may further complicate staffing. 7 An additional challenge is how facilities will sustain a fully trained team when unoccupied. Another unanticipated concern for ETCs has been the logistical capabilities and regulatory requirements associated with processing and disposing of EVD medical waste.…”

“…This includes compliance with all state and federal occupational safety standards, and the assurance of direct active monitoring of HCWs caring for patients with EVD or those in contact with the contaminated environment or waste for signs and symptoms potentially consistent with EVD throughout patient care and for 21 days afterwards. 7 Such monitoring is overseen by public health officials for all healthcare professionals in direct patient care. (7) Laboratory 5 • ETC laboratories have implemented risk assessments of safe work practices, PPE requirements, laboratory equipment, and instrumentation.…”

Determining training and education needs pertaining to highly infectious disease preparedness and response: A gap analysis survey of US emergency medical services practitioners

“…The 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak resulted in best practices on patient care and supplemental clinical activities within health care settings to be widely disseminated. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Highly infectious diseases (HIDs) like EVD tend to have high case fatalities; are easily transmissible from human to human; and require intensive medical, public health, and community control measures. 17 Consequently, the EVD outbreak underscored the lack of consistent guidelines, training, and education for workers outside of traditional hospital settings who might also encounter potential HID scenarios, and subsequently respond to these hazards.…”