Ebola has yet to land in Canada, but local doctors and nurses have gotten a firsthand look at what to expect if a case popped up in Windsor.
During a mock drill on Tuesday, emergency responders and emergency room doctors learned how to properly handle a potential case of Ebola. The first step in this process starts with the 911 call.
“They prepare before they even get into the house. They have to wear the full protective equipment such as the coveralls, the mask, googles, boots and it’s kind of a slowdown process because we have to notify the hospital of the patient, so they can prepare as well,” says Windsor-Essex EMS chief Bruce Krauter. “It’ll take time, it won't be quick, it could be an hour, two hours, before we're ready to transport that patient to the hospital.
Once the ER at Windsor Regional Hospital is ready, the patient is brought in through a special route to minimize how many people are potentially exposed to the victim. Once inside, the patient goes into a negative pressure room.
If a patient enters the ER with Ebola-like symptoms, officials will execute a similar strategy.
“The patient would be held somewhere until the staff could put the appropriate gear on,” says Dr. Paul Bradford. “When you come in, that’s your patient and you will follow that patient throughout their visit.”
During this time, only one person from housekeeping will clean the room once a patient has been moved, or deemed to not have Ebola. This is an example of some of the things the hospital is learning.
“They had a barricade set up in one of the hallways that people weren't supposed to cross, well, it made it too tight for our stretchers to move,” says Krauter.
Hospital officials say they were pleased with the results of Tuesday’s mock disaster.
