Suiting up for safety in Ebola protective gear

The CDC has guidelines for personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety procedures for healthcare workers caring for Ebola patients. These include full coverage suits, face masks, goggles and multiple pairs of gloves, as well as having another worker observe the donning and removal of all PPE. Specific training is required to safely don and remove PPE, and to conduct oneself carefully while wearing PPE. Some hospitals think they need to do more. Dr. Michael Reilly, director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at New York Medical College, shows us the options and explains some of the risks, with PPE.

We remind you:

• Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person, not through casual contact.
• The illness has an average 8-10 day incubation period, although incubation can be from 2-21 days. If a person does not experience symptoms within 21 days of possible exposure, it means the individual does not have Ebola. • Visit the CDC website for a full list of Ebola (www.cdc.gov).
• A Travel Alert has been issued for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which reported 68 cases of the disease as of October 9, 2014. The DRC cases are unrelated to the outbreak in West Africa.

Ebola screening is instituted at five United States airports for all people entering the U.S. from Ebola-affected countries - JFK International Airport, Newark, Washington-Dulles, Chicago-O’Hare and Atlanta international airports.

If you have had contact with a person with Ebola or have traveled to a West African country within the past 21 days and have a fever or other signs or Ebola, seek immediate medical attention and call the Touro College Emergency Preparedness Illness Hotline number at 1-877-700-4161.