Illinois Health Care Professionals Preparing For Ebola
From the Bloomington Pantagraph
While the risk of contracting Ebola in Central Illinois remains low, hospitals and county health departments are preparing for possible cases.
"We're staying alert," said Kera Brossette of the McLean County Health Department.
President Barack Obama said Monday the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers arriving from West Africa amid growing concern about the potential for the spread of the virus. The White House, however, continued to rule out any blanket ban on travel from West Africa.
Also keeping an eye on the situation are officials at Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities, both of which have active international programs.
At Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal, patients are being asked about travel history, Infection Preventionist Pam Bierbaum said Monday. The staff is monitoring information coming out of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and keeping in contact with the county health department while ensuring that they are ready to detect possible cases and respond while protecting employees, Bierbaum said.
At OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, Employee Health Nurse Pamela Madden said: "We have our pandemic plan in place and have successfully tested both staffing influx and patient surge capacity. The ED (emergency department) has Ebola screening in place and are reviewing their haz-mat (hazardous materials) protocols.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Bloomington Pantagraph
While the risk of contracting Ebola in Central Illinois remains low, hospitals and county health departments are preparing for possible cases.
"We're staying alert," said Kera Brossette of the McLean County Health Department.
President Barack Obama said Monday the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers arriving from West Africa amid growing concern about the potential for the spread of the virus. The White House, however, continued to rule out any blanket ban on travel from West Africa.
Also keeping an eye on the situation are officials at Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities, both of which have active international programs.
At Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal, patients are being asked about travel history, Infection Preventionist Pam Bierbaum said Monday. The staff is monitoring information coming out of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and keeping in contact with the county health department while ensuring that they are ready to detect possible cases and respond while protecting employees, Bierbaum said.
At OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, Employee Health Nurse Pamela Madden said: "We have our pandemic plan in place and have successfully tested both staffing influx and patient surge capacity. The ED (emergency department) has Ebola screening in place and are reviewing their haz-mat (hazardous materials) protocols.
Read more in our daily News Update...