Local Hospitals Ready If a Patient Ever Tests Positive for Ebola

News about the first case of the ebola virus in the United State’s is putting people on edge. Many are wondering if hospitals here in the valley could handle an infected patient.

The patient, from liberia, is being treated in a Dallas, Texas hospital. Health officials say the patient from west Africa didn’t show signs of the virus until 4 days after arriving in the U.S.

“I don’t know why they’re letting people into the country, from the different countries that have this illness already,” said Barbara Williams, concerned about the first ebola case, “I’m very concerned, it’s only a matter of time before it spreads to this country,” she said.

Here in the desert, we get a lot of visitors from all over the world. At Desert Regional Medical center in Palm Springs, health experts there say they’re on high alert.

“Make sure everyone is aware to keep on their questions for patients that come in with signs and symptoms so we can identify them,” said Michael Connors, Lead Infection Preventionist at Desert Regional.

But if a patient did ever test positive for the virus, he says the hospital is prepared.

“We’re very capable as a hospital to take care of the that,” he said, “We would place them immediately into a private room, staff would wear masks, impervious gowns to keep fluids from getting through their clothing, gloves, and goggles to protect themselves,” Connors said.

They say ebola doesn’t transmit any differently than a multitude of other illnesses they deal with at the hospital everyday, and while they are on higher alert, experts tell us there’s no reason for people to panic. They say the chance of an outbreak in the U.S. is very small.

“I think we’re even better equipped in the U.S. to do that, to track down people who were exposed and isolate them to keep them from spreading widely,” Connors said.

Eisenhower Medical Center, Raeln Anderson, RN Infection Preventionist says the center is also prepared to treat an ebola patient.

“Eisenhower Medical Center has a screening process in place to evaluate patients who present with signs and symptoms of a viral infection. The Ebola virus is a viral hemorrhagic fever disease, not a respiratory disease like the flu. For any patient presenting with Ebola-like symptoms, we will follow the recommended precautions based on the County of Riverside Department of Public Health guidelines.

We have a multidisciplinary emergency preparedness team that is closely monitoring the outbreak. We are continuing to educate our care providers system-wide on our emergency preparedness protocols in order to meet any challenges should the desert community be affected by this virus.”