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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 | 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
booties, full face shields and
surgical hoods that tuck neat-
ly into the gowns. These
dress rehearsals are in prepa-
ration for a horror show you
pray the curtain never rises
on: an infected patient show-
ing up at your registration
desk.
For many, these donning-
and-doffing drills are unset-
tling, especially when you
consider the odds of an
Ebola patient showing up in
any given facility. "We've had
to do so much for something
that seems so remote," says
Genevieve Holody, RN, the
nurse educator at the Buffalo Surgery Center in Amherst, N.Y. "It
seems like we're overreacting."
A surgeon was puzzled by the e-mail he received from his hospital
saying he had to go to a class to learn how to don and doff personal
protective equipment (PPE) in case of an Ebola patient. "I don't
remember ever having to do this with a patient who had the flu, HIV, or
hepatitis B or C," says the surgeon, who wishes to remain anonymous.
To those who say the drills are excessive, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says every U.S. healthcare facility needs to
have the capability to initially handle a case. "Even if the patient is
going to be transferred to another facility, they need to be able to han-
dle the first moments," says Abbigail Tumpey, a CDC spokeswoman.
E B O L A V I R U S
EBOLA READINESS Genevieve Holody, RN,
the nurse educator at the Buffalo Surgery
Center in Amherst, N.Y., holds her facility's
Ebola policy and a package of surgical hoods.
Genevieve
Holody,
RN
