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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4
This is only a drill
The goal of these PPE drills is simple: to leave no skin exposed, as
the Ebola virus is only transmitted through direct contact with bodi-
ly fluids after a patient exhibits symptoms.
"Head-to-toe personal protection is alien to the perioperative nurse,"
says a nurse who works in a surgery center that sits in the shadow of
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, ground zero in the Ebola
scare, where a patient died of Ebola and 2 nurses contracted the virus.
"We know about exposure risks, but we're not accustomed to placing the
isolation-type equipment on."
When nurses and doctors practice putting on and removing protective
equipment, they're encouraged to pair up with a co-worker or "buddy" to
watch them do so, making sure they remember such important details
as removing protective equipment by grasping it from behind, because
the front is contaminated. "It's actually very hard to do," says the nurse
from Dallas. "Taking it off is especially hard. I don't know what to touch
first or what to take off first."
Is your facility prepared to handle Ebola? Only 19% of surgical facilities
are well-prepared to receive a patient with the Ebola virus, according to
an online survey of 180 OR managers Outpatient Surgery Magazine
conducted last month. Most (43%) feel they're "somewhat prepared" and
38% say they're "not at all prepared."
Only a flight away
The infection prevention team at West Virginia University Hospital has
been working for months to develop a plan and educate staff on Ebola.
Dawn Yost, MSN, RN, BSDH, RDH, CNOR, manager of nursing opera-
tions, says that the ease of international travel means that hospitals are
only a flight away from an Ebola patient coming through the front
E B O L A V I R U S
