US health providers expand their Ebola precautions

By David B. Caruso, The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Public hospitals in New York City are so concerned about Ebola, they've secretly been sending actors with mock symptoms into emergency rooms to test how well the triage staffs identify and isolate possible cases.

A small Ohio hospital has hung up signs imploring patients to let nurses know immediately if they have travelled recently to West Africa.

And across the U.S., one of the nation's largest ambulance companies has put together step-by-step instructions for wrapping the interior of a rig with plastic sheeting.

There hasn't been a single confirmed case of an Ebola infection happening on U.S. soil; the case confirmed in Dallas involves a man who, like several health care workers treated in the U.S., contracted the virus in Liberia. But health care providers are worried enough to take a wide variety of precautions.

It isn't yet clear whether these preparations are overkill, or not nearly enough.

But health care experts say that at the very least, the scare is providing a chance to reinforce and test infection control procedures.

"The attention has been, in a sad way, very helpful," said Dr. Richard Wenzel, an epidemiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Even small hospitals far from international travel hubs should be reviewing protocols and screening questions, and potentially buying protective equipment such as face masks and protective suits, he said. This will help them avoid repeating the mistakes of Dallas, where a Liberian man with Ebola symptoms was sent away despite telling a hospital staffer he had travelled from Africa, and potentially infected many others before he was readmitted two days later.

"The debacle in Texas should stimulate improved awareness and responses," Wenzel said.

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US health providers expand their Ebola precautions