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duct drills, review PPE stock and lab processes, and establish tighter
patient screening.
• If there's an Ebola patient confirmed within 100 miles of the center …
the center will put more specific plans in place, including screenings
at each of the entry points of the center.
What about disposing of Ebola-associated waste? It may be inciner-
ated or inactivated through the use of appropriate autoclaves, says the
CDC, adding that other methods such as chemical inactivation have
not been standardized.
"We don't have an incinerator on site, so we'd have to autoclave the
waste on site to make it inert," says Mr. Pankey, "and then put it into
red bag waste and send it off as though it were biohazardous."
Who's your infection preventionist?
The Ebola scare and its demand for intense, in-person training and
drilling have drawn attention to the dearth of full-time infection pre-
ventionists.
"We know that many hospitals do not have enough staff dedicated to
infection prevention and control," says Jennie Mayfield, BSN, MPH, CIC,
president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and
Epidemiology. "Facilities that are inadequately staffed to begin with are
stretched beyond capacity at a time like this. The current crisis demon-
strates our lack of surge capacity and should concern everyone. Because
our infection preventionist members are having to focus so much atten-
tion on Ebola, they are very worried about what other infectious diseases
we might be missing. The infection preventionist's skills have never been
in more demand."
An unlikely visitor
While Ebola isn't likely to make an appearance at your surgical facili-
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