Memorial Hospital says it’s prepared to handle Ebola

Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, part of University of Colorado Health Systems, says it’s prepared in case a patient shows signs of Ebola.

Laurie Emery, infection preventionist at Memorial Hospital, said all staff has been trained in a screening protocol to include assessing risk factors such as travel history.

“If that patient is positive for any of those risk factors, then we would immediately isolate that patient and we have a phone tree in place that we would start calling various agencies and departments within the hospital,” Emery said.

The Dallas hospital treating the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States is accused of botching protocol. Thomas Duncan went to the emergency room last week and told staff he had traveled from Liberia. However, officials say a nurse failed to fully communicate that information with the entire staff and he was allowed to leave the hospital with antibiotics. When his condition worsened, he returned a few days later and was diagnosed with Ebola Tuesday.

“It’s not unexpected that we had a case in the United States with so many cases in Africa,” said Emery.

Emery said there have been meetings at the hospital regarding infectious disease protocol and screening begins in the emergency room.

“We have protective equipment available for all our staff,” Emery said. “They’re trained on it and we have it available to protect the staff, patients and visitors.”

Liberia is one of the hotspots in a large outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, with 3,458 cases and 1,830 deaths as of Sept. 23, according to the World Health Organization. Other countries affected include Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. In total, more than 3,000 people have died in those countries from Ebola and more than 6,500 have contracted the disease.